Jean-Luc Godard at the FIAF Congress of 1979 in Lausanne, with Freddy Buache, director of Cinémathèque suisse from 1951 to 1996 Photo ©Cinémathèque Suisse Collection. All rights reserved

Revolutionary cinema: Jean-Luc Godard receives the 2019 FIAF award in Lausanne

E. Nina Rothe April 13, 2019

Jean-Luc Godard. Was there ever a more interesting, enigmatic figure in French cinema? I don’t think so.

From his films, cryptic as best sometimes, to the revolution he organized along with François Truffaut which shut down the Festival de Cannes in 1968, from his reclusive almost invisible life in later years, to his latest masterpiece ‘The Image Book’, Godard was, is and always will be the Greta Garbo of French filmmakers.

So to find him in Lausanne, making a rare live appearance in present day and form, accepting the FIAF 2019 award from Frédéric Maire — President of FIAF, director of the Cinémathèque Suisse and former head of Locarno Film Festival — at the Casino de Montbenon, home of the Cinematheque Suisse, is legendary.

PHOTO: LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL BY SAILAS VANETTI

Visionary Producer Michel Merkt in Locarno: “I would rather surprise than be expected.”

E. Nina Rothe February 5, 2018

Visionary, global, modern, iconoclastic, young and cool, Michel Merkt has revolutionized the landscape of independent cinema internationally and changed the way we go to the movies. Whereas before films like ‘Toni Erdmann’ and ‘My Life as a Zucchini’ would have been relegated to the darkened rooms of arthouse movie theaters, they are now titles that trip off global audiences tongues as easily as any blockbuster or Hollywood rom-com. And for the past decade, producing an average of five titles per year, Merkt has guaranteed his place in the firmament of star film producers.

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Revolutionary cinema: Jean-Luc Godard receives the 2019 FIAF award in Lausanne

Visionary Producer Michel Merkt in Locarno: “I would rather surprise than be expected.”

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