The Art of Directing: A Concise Dictionary of France's Film Directors

«The Art of Directing is a fabulous new resource for everyone interested in French cinema. Scholars and film-lovers alike will find much to be informed and inspired by in its concise but rich entries on 121 different directors. This will be the starting point for anyone wanting to know more about the directors who have shaped French cinema from the silent era to the present day.» (Mairi McLaughlin, Professor of French, University of California, Berkeley)

It is not by chance that films by Renoir, Bresson, Varda, Godard, or Truffaut - to name just a few - have become widely studied around the world, with their directors becoming household names. Yet there are so many others who have made their mark on French and international cinema. The aim of this dictionary is to shed light on the directing process and to help people discover forgotten directors and rediscover prominent ones who have made Francophone cinema what it is today.

This book is intended as a reference resource for students, scholars, and academics as well as film lovers, who will find both biographical and filmographic references, allowing them to gain an understanding in a nutshell of a particular director's career and its influences as well as its impact upon and legacy for the world of French cinema - and beyond. When one considers all the directors who have impacted French cinema - from the silent era to our current digital and streaming age - this work is as exhaustive and inclusive as possible.