fiction.wikisort.org - Director

Céline Sciamma (French: [selin sjama];[1] born 12 November 1978) is a French screenwriter and film director. She is especially known for her films Girlhood (2014), My Life as a Courgette (2016), and Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), winning many nominations and awards for her films.

Céline Sciamma
Sciamma in 2017
Born	(1978-11-12) 12 November 1978 (age 43) Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, France
Nationality	French
Alma mater	La Fémis
Occupation	Filmmaker
Years active	2004–present

A common theme in Sciamma's films is the fluidity of gender and sexual identity among girls and women, and her films explore the female gaze.

Early life and education

Sciamma was born on 12 November 1978[2] was raised in Cergy-Pontoise, a suburb outside of Paris.[3] Her father, Dominique Sciamma, is a software designer, and her brother, Laurent Sciamma, is a stand-up performer and graphic designer.[4]

Before attending La Fémis, the première French film school, Sciamma earned her master's degree in French Literature at Paris Nanterre University.[5][6] As a child, she was an avid reader and became interested in film as a teenager.[5] Sciamma cites her grandmother as inspiration to her love of film, saying that she had a great interest in old Hollywood movies. Sciamma also attended Utopia, an art house cinema theater in Cergy 3 times a week as a teenager.[7] She wrote her first original script for Water Lilies as part of her final evaluation at La Fémis. Sciamma has stated that she never planned on directing, and that she has thought only about screenwriting or working as a critic, because she felt that directing was too much of a ‘male only’ position.[8] Xavier Beauvois, who was chairman of the evaluation panel, and could be considered as her mentor, persuaded her to make the film.[9] A year after finishing school, she began shooting the film in her hometown.[10]

Career

Films

Sciamma's debut film, Water Lilies, was selected for screening in the section Un certain regard at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. The film secured three nominations for the 2008 César Awards; Sciamma was nominated for the César Award for Best Debut, and actresses Adèle Haenel and Louise Blachère were both nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actress.^{[citation needed]}

Sciamma directed her first short film, Pauline, in 2009 as part of a government anti-homophobia campaign called ‘Five films against homophobia’.[9]

Her 2011 film Tomboy was written and shot in a matter of months.[11] Sciamma wrote the script in three weeks, completed casting in three weeks, and shot the film in 20 days.[10] It premiered at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival in the Panorama section of the festival. The film was shown in French schools as part of an educational program.[10]

Her 2014 film Girlhood was selected to be screened as part of the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.[12] It also played at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. In interviews, Sciamma said that Girlhood would be her last coming-of-age film and that she considered it, Water Lilies and Tomboy a trilogy.[13]

In between directing her own films, Sciamma continues to work as a screenwriter for other directors. She was sought after by André Téchiné, whose work Sciamma admired as a youth, to co-write the screenplay for his 2016 film Being 17.[14]

Sciamma's fourth feature film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, began shooting in autumn 2018.[15] It premiered In Competition at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Queer Palm and Best Screenplay.[16]

She co-wrote the 2021 film Paris, 13th District alongside Jacques Audiard and Léa Mysius.[17]

Sciamma then shot her fifth feature, Petite Maman, in the fall of 2020 and it premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in March 2021.[18] It also screened at the 2021 San Sebastián International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award.[19]

Other roles

Since 2015 and as of 2022^[update] Sciamma continues to serve as the co-president of the SRF (Society of Film Directors).[20]

Style and themes

Sciamma frequently collaborates with Para One, who has scored all her films and directed scripts by Sciamma in the past.^{[citation needed]} She frequently collaborates with cinematographer Crystel Fournier, who worked on Sciamma's Girlhood trilogy, among others.[21]

She is noted for casting non-professional actors in her films, and also frequently casts Adèle Haenel, who appeared in Water Lilies, Pauline, and Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Sciamma has said that fashion and style form an important part of characterisation, which is why, though uncredited, she is often the costume designer for her films.[22]

Sciamma has cited David Lynch as a heavy influence, along with seeing Virginia Woolf as "the greatest novelist" and Chantal Akerman as "one of the most important filmmakers".[23]

A common theme in Sciamma's films is the fluidity of gender and sexual identity among girls and women.[24] Her films look at lesbianism and queerness, and how this represented on screen. She focuses on the idea of the body, and how touch is related to it within cinema.[25] Sciamma’s notable in her thematic elements for female gaze, and many scholars have cited her as a pioneer for creating a new way of seeing women in media.[26] She also likes to conceptualise the idea of ‘looking’, using Russian nesting dolls as a metaphor of "looking within looking".[8]

Sciamma does not believe in the idea of a muse for her pieces, and despite her personal relationship with Haenel, says that the relationships on screen are of collaboration and subversion, not fascination.[27]

Sciamma focuses on identity and representation in film, such as black identity in Girlhood, and motherhood identity in Petite Maman.[28][29]

Activism

Sciamma is a feminist.[30] She was a founding member of the French branch of the 5050 by 2020 movement, a group of French film industry professionals advocating for gender parity in film by the year 2020.[31][32]

She has contributed heavily to discourse with cinema regarding the female gaze.[26] Sciamma uses her platform to speak about the restrictions of the male gaze and present movies that elevate the female gaze.[33] She sees her work, particularly Portrait of a Lady on Fire, as a manifesto of the female gaze. Sciamma stated in an interview: "That’s why the male gaze is obsessed with representing lesbians, for instance. It's a way to control it. Our stories are powerful because they are dangerous. We are dangerous. So it's a very good strategy to despise us — to undermine us — because it's giving us less leverage for a very powerful political dynamic".[34]

Sciamma has stated that "cinema is always political," and that creating films by women and about women is a political act. [35]

In 2018, she co-organised and participated in the women's protest against inequality at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival alongside many notable women in film, including Agnès Varda, Ava DuVernay, Cate Blanchett and Léa Seydoux.[36]

At the premiere of her film Portrait of a Lady on Fire at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, both Sciamma and lead actress Haenel wore 50/50 pins in support of the movement.[37]

In 2020 Sciamma and the Portrait of a Lady on Fire team joined Haenel in walking out of the 45th César Awards after Roman Polanski won the award for Best Director.[38] Sciamma stated in an interview regarding the walk-out that “...there was no plan. It’s all about the moment, a matter of seconds. It’s about moving your legs, as simple as that. And that’s hard. It’s hard to stand up, hard to move your legs. I understand why people don’t. But sometimes you have to.”[27]

Personal life

Sciamma is a lesbian.[39] In 2014, Adèle Haenel publicly acknowledged that she was in a relationship with Sciamma in her acceptance speech for her César Award.[40] The two had met on the set of the 2007 film Water Lilies and started dating sometime after. The couple parted ways, amicably, sometime before the 2018 filming of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which also starred Haenel.[41]

Filmography and awards

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Actor	Notes
2004	Les Premières Communions		Yes		Short film
2006	Cache ta joie		Yes		Short film
2007	Water Lilies	Yes	Yes	Yes	Louis Delluc Prize for Best First Film Cabourg Film Festival – Youth Jury Prize Athens International Film Festival – Best Film Cabourg Romantic Film Festival – Award of the Youth Torino Film Festival – Holden Award for Best Script - Special Mention Nominated – César Award for Best First Feature Film Nominated – Caméra d'Or (2007 Cannes Film Festival) Nominated – Prix Un Certain Regard (2007 Cannes Film Festival) Nominated – Prize of the City of Torino for Best Feature Film
2009	Pauline	Yes			Short film
2010	Ivory Tower		Yes
2011	Tomboy	Yes	Yes		Berlin International Film Festival – Teddy Jury Award[42] Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema – FIPRESCI Prize Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema – SIGNIS Award Prix Jacques Prévert du Scénario for Best Original Screenplay Odesa International Film Festival – Golden Duke for Grand Prix Odesa International Film Festival – Don Quixote Award for International Program Schwule Filmwoche Freiburg – Opening Movie Nominated – Odesa International Film Festival -- Golden Duke for International Competition Nominated – Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema – Best Film
2014	Bird People		Yes		Screenplay consultant
	Mademoiselle			Yes	Role: Fille boîte; Short film
	Girlhood	Yes	Yes		Black Reel Awards – Outstanding Foreign Film Kermode Award for Best Director Stockholm International Film Festival – Best Film Lumières Awards – Special Jury Prize Philadelphia Film Festival – Special Jury Prize for Narrative Award San Sebastian International Film Festival – TVE Otra Mirada Award Stockholm Film Festival – Bronze Horse for Best Film Jameson CineFest: Miskolc International Film Festival – International Ecumenical Award Nominated – Alliance of Women Film Journalists EDA Female Focus Award for Best Woman Director Nominated – Queer Palm (2014 Cannes Film Festival) Nominated – César Award for Best Director Nominated – European Parliament Lux Prize Nominated – Lumières Award for Best Film Nominated – Lumières Award for Best Director Nominated – Official Competition for Best Film (London Film Festival) Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film Nominated – Critics Award (2014 Hamburg Film Festival)
	Young Tiger		Yes		Storyline consultant
2016	Being 17		Yes
	My Life as a Courgette		Yes		César Award for Best Adaptated Screenplay Lumières Award for Best Screenplay Nominated – Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Writing in an Animated Feature Production
2018	With the Wind		Yes		Collaborating writer
2019	Portrait of a Lady on Fire	Yes	Yes		Best Screenplay Award (Cannes Film Festival) Queer Palm (Cannes Film Festival) Lumières Award for Best Cinematography César Award for Best Cinematography Chicago International Film Festival — Gold Hugo for Best Feature Denver International Film Festival — Rare Pearl Award European Film Awards — European Film Award for European Screenwriter Hamburg Film Festival — Art Cinema Award for Best Feature Chicago International Film Festival – Silver Q-Hugo Alliance of Women Film Journalists — EDA Female Focus Award for Best Woman Director Nominated — Alliance of Women Film Journalists — EDA for Best Director Nominated — Alliance of Women Film Journalists — EDA Female Focus Award for Best Woman Screenwriter Nominated – Film Press Union — Grand Prix Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film Nominated – César Award for Best Director Nominated – Lumières Award for Best Film Nominated – Palme d’Or (Cannes Film Festival) Nominated – Lumières Award for Best Director Nominated – Best Film Not in the English Language (BAFTA)
2021	Petite Maman	Yes	Yes		Film by the Sea International Film Festival — Le prix Vive le cinéma! For Best French Language Film Mar del Plata Film Festival – SIGNIS Award: Special Mention San Sebastián International Film Festival – City of Donostia Audience Award Stockholm Film Festival – FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film Nominated – Mar del Plata Film Festival – Best Film, International Competition Nominated – Golden Berlin Bear (Berlin International Film Festival) Nominated – Sydney Film Festival – Sydney Film Prize for Best Film Nominated – British Independent Film Award for Best International Independent Film Nominated – Chicago International Film Festival – Golden Hugo for Best Feature
	Paris, 13th District		Yes		Collaborating writer

See also

• List of female film and television directors
• List of lesbian filmmakers
• List of LGBT-related films directed by women

References

Further reading

• Aguilar, Carlos (12 February 2020). "Love Dialogue: Céline Sciamma on Portrait of a Lady on Fire". RogerEbert.com.
• Belot, Sophie. “Céline Sciamma's La Naissance des pieuvres (2007): Seduction and be-coming”. Studies in French Cinema, 2012, 12:2, 169-184, DOI: 10.1386/sfc.12.2.169_1
• Bramowitz, Julie. “Céline Sciamma's Newest Film, Girlhood, Changes the Face of the Coming-of-Age Story.” Vogue. Vogue, January 30, 2015. https://www.vogue.com/article/girlhood-movie-celine-sciamma-changes-coming-of-age-story.
• Brock, Jeremy (3 December 2019). "Screenwriters' Lecture Series 2019: Céline Sciamma". British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
• Bulloch, Ellie. Subverting the ‘Male Gaze’: How Is a ‘Female Gaze’ Evident in the Works of Sophie Calle and Céline Sciamma? Dissertation, Professor Paul Hegarty, 2021. https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/clas/documents/final-year-prizes/2021/ellie-bulloch-dissertation.pdf.
• Musto, Michael (10 February 2020). ""Portrait of a Lady on Fire" Director Céline Sciamma Says Being a Lesbian Is Her "Political Identity"". NewNowNext.
• Palmer, Tim; Michael, Charlie, eds. (2013). Directory of World Cinema: France. Bristol, United Kingdom: Intellect. ISBN 978-1-84150-563-3.
• Pollard, Alexandra (1 March 2020). "Portrait of a Lady on Fire director Céline Sciamma: 'Ninety per cent of what we look at is the male gaze'". The Independent.
• Soares, André (14 May 2008). "'Water Lilies': Céline Sciamma Discusses Lesbian Teen Drama". Alt Film Guide.
• Taubin, Amy (November–December 2019). "Interview: Céline Sciamma". Film Comment.
• Wilson, Emma (Spring 2017). "Scenes of Hurt and Rapture: Céline Sciamma's Girlhood". Film Quarterly. 70 (3): 10–22. doi:10.1525/fq.2017.70.3.10. ISSN 0015-1386. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.

External links

• Céline Sciamma at IMDb
• Céline Sciamma at France Culture
• Céline Sciamma at the British Film Institute

На других языках

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[de] Céline Sciamma

Céline Sciamma (* 12. November 1978 in Pontoise) ist eine französische Drehbuchautorin und Filmregisseurin.

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- [en] Céline Sciamma

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[ru] Сьямма, Селин

Сели́н Сьямма́[2] (фр. Céline Sciamma; род. 12 ноября 1978, Понтуаз, Франция) — французский кинорежиссёр и сценарист, фем-активистка[3][4].

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