Since her first feature film Chocolat (1988), inspired by her childhood in Africa, director Claire Denis has become a major figure in cinema. Her work, characterized by freedom, sensitivity, and political engagement, explores colonial legacies, identities, and the complexity of relationships. Her filmography includes sixteen feature films, such as Nénette et Boni (1996), Beau Travail (1999), White Material (2009), High Life (2018), and Stars at Noon (2022).
Claire Denis is invited for the 2026-2027 academic year to hold the annual Cinema chair, established in partnership with the National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC).
Reflecting on her beginnings, the director admits that becoming a filmmaker was not a foregone conclusion. Having grown up in Africa, far from that world, she discovered cinema late, viewing it as a magical experience. It was upon arriving in France as a teenager and through her high school's film club that she deepened her passion. Despite some hesitation and a film culture she felt was lacking, she applied to the IDHEC (now La Fémis) entrance exam, surprisingly gaining admission.
After her studies at IDHEC, which was refounded after May 68, Claire Denis worked as an assistant director, collaborating with filmmakers like Jacques Rivette and Wim Wenders. She consistently insisted on setting her film projects in Africa, a choice that was not always easy for producers to accept but was essential to her, linked to her childhood memories and the end of colonialism.
Her debut film, Chocolat (1988), garnered significant attention, opening doors for her in the film industry. Claire Denis emphasizes that making films is a passion, a 'life,' rather than a profession or career. She has always been supported by producers who believed in her original screenplays, even amidst production challenges.
The director also highlights her long-standing collaborations, particularly with cinematographer Agnès Godard, whom she met at IDHEC, and screenwriter Jean-Pol Fargeau, with whom she developed an intense and shared working method.
When asked about the presence of violence in her films (colonial, racist, violence against women), Claire Denis states it reflects what she observes in life. She portrays this violence not as a means of spectacular seduction but as an inherent component of the world she aims to express through her cinema.
Regarding the title of her inaugural lecture, 'Faire mieux' (To Do Better), she explains it represents an inner mechanism that drives her to surpass her previous film. For her, making a film must be a personal crystallization, a necessity that compels her to go further.
