Claire Denis

Claire Denis is a well-known French movie director and a writer. She has influenced Europe as well as other parts of the world with her cinematic work. Claire has directed both French and English movies; her movie Beau Travail released in 1999 is a masterpiece in the history of cinema. She took birth in Paris, France on 21st April 1946.

Her other works, 35 Shots of Rum, Intruder, Chocolat, etc, are critically acclaimed. Her style shows themes of West Africa in post-colonial and colonial times; moreover, she depicts modern France in her movies as well. She took birth in Paris, France on 21st April 1946 but spent her childhood in parts of Colonial Africa; she grew up in Senegal, French Somaliland and parts of West Africa as her father was a civil servant.

Her understanding of political issues made her into a storyteller. Living in different parts of West Africa and addressing issues had an influence on Claire in her filming career. In 1960, Claire and her sister went back to Paris to complete their education.

She studied Economics at the start, but it did not interest her. Later she went to Institut des Hautes études cinématographiques (IDHC) to master film-making; she graduated from the French film institute and got into direction. Claire had already shot some short films, but in 1998, she directed her debut feature film, La Chocolat.

Themed on the African colonialism, the movie got selected for the Cannes Film Festival; it got critically acclaimed as first work and even got nominated for César Awards.Beau Travail released in 1999 is a masterpiece in the history of cinema, it won an award at Berlin Film Fest and Rotterdam Film Fest. After this Claire’s got applause from the whole of the world, she became a reputed director.

She went on to direct over twelve feature films and continued to win hearts of the audience and critics. Not only the themes in her movies are drifted away from mainstream Hollywood but also the style depicts the harsh face of contemporary France.

She has combined history with personal experience, and that has made her work master class. She is a winner of the Stockholm Film Fest Lifetime Achievement Award and a former jury member of Moscow International Film Festival.