Sunday Afternoon Lecture: French cinema

This talk is part of our Autumn Lecture series. To find out about the other talks in this series visit our Courses page.

How influential is French cinema today? On the 2022 Sight and Sound poll “Greatest Films of All Time”, French cinema occupies a non-negligeable place. Examining some of the French films in the list, among them Beau Travail (1998, Claire Denis), A Bout de Souffle (1960, Jean-Luc Godard), The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939), The 400 Blows (1959, François Truffaut), Vagabond (1985, Agnès Varda), Hidden (2004, Michael Haneke), Petite Maman (2021, Céline Sciamma) we will appreciate their significance within the context of French cinema, and beyond. The lecture is also an introduction to the French Film Festival UK, coming to Depot this winter.

About the speaker

Dr Martine Pierquin has taught film studies, and French cinema in particular, for many years. She has contributed to a variety of events and festivals, such as the Edinburgh International Film Festival, The Chichester Film Festival and the UK’s French Film Festival, for which she is also a short film curator.