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Still from 'Nenette et Boni'

Intense Intimacy: The Cinema of Claire Denis

In 2010 Watershed celebrated the work of French director, Claire Denis, with a retrospective marking the release of her feature, 'White Material'.

In 2010 Watershed curated a season and touring programme celebrating the work of French director, Claire Denis. The touring programme, aptly-named ‘Intense Intimacy: The Cinema of Claire Denis’, provided cinema-goers with a rare opportunity to view the unique oeuvre of one of contemporary cinema’s finest auteurs.  

The cinema of Claire Denis is one of fierce individualism. She is economical with dialogue, favouring visual and sound elements as narrative devices, and the rhythmic quality of her editing technique has led critics to dub her the ‘Ornette Coleman of film’. Deracinated margin-dwellers; immigrants, exiles, alienated individuals, and sexual transgressives alike are the stars of the worlds Denis creates. Her fascination with disenfranchised, rootless figures combined with her intensely intimate visual language, draws attention to difference and the consequences that inevitably arise from intolerance.

Claire Denis has collaborated with British band Tindersticks, who have contributed music to 7 of her films. Tindersticks' music, often subtle and understated, always moody and penetrating, provides a persistent element in Denis' ever-evolving oeuvre.

In addition to the touring programme, which took a collection of Denis' films to selected venues throughout the UK are Ireland, the season included an interview with Denis herself, who spoke to Mark Cosgrove, Watershed's Head of Programme, about her film White Material, which takes place in an Africa rife with civil and racial conflict.

Related Links:

Intense Intimacy: The Cinema of Claire Denis Season Programme Notes

Senses of Cinema: Great Directors – Claire Denis

Ended in July 2010

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