Philippe_Grandrieux

Philippe Grandrieux

Philippe Grandrieux

French film director and screenwriter (born 1954)


Philippe Grandrieux (born 10 October 1954) is a French film director and screenwriter.

Quick Facts Born, Occupation(s) ...

Life and career

Grandrieux was born in Saint-Étienne.[1] He studied film at the INSAS (Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle) in Belgium. He exhibited his first video work at Galerie Albert Baronian in Brussels.
In the 1980s, he worked in collaboration with the French Institut national de l'audiovisuel (INA) and the television channel La Sept/Arte where he helped develop new cinematographic forms and formats that challenged basic principles of film writing, for instance, the conventions behind documentary, information and film essays. In 1990, he created the film research lab “Live” which produced one-hour-long sequences by Thierry Kuntzel, Robert Kramer and Robert Frank.

Since 2005, programs devoted to Grandrieux's features (including Sombre, La Vie nouvelle, Un lac, and Malgré la nuit), installations, documentary work and shorts have been presented across the world.

In 2012 and 2013, Grandrieux was a visiting professor of fiction film at Harvard University.

In 2022, Philippe Grandrieux wrote Marcus (Emperor Mark Aurelius), the screenplay for his next feature film, in collaboration with Jonathan Littell.

The premiere of his staging of the opera Tristan and Isolde took place in March 2023 at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Ghent and Antwerp, and will be performed at Opera de Rouen[2] in June 2024.

Work

Grandrieux's work covers several cinematographic fields TV experimentation, video art, research movie, film essay, documentary, and museum exhibition. His full-feature movies, Sombre (Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Film Festival), La Vie Nouvelle (A New Life), Un Lac (Orizzonti - Special Jury Prize in Venice), and Malgré la nuit are examples of Grandrieux's creativity in photography, sound, and narration. Grandrieux's films give the viewer intense sensorial experiences. His aim is to deeply engage the audience psychologically through his films. They portray a realm of raw emotions and sensations, despite following a straightforward narrative and employing archetypal imagery reminiscent of fairy tales and legends. Tim Palmer contextualizes Grandrieux's oeuvre within a broader trend towards a cinema focused on corporeal experiences.[3]

For the soundtrack on Sombre, he worked with Alan Vega. He worked with the musicians, poets and performers of the band Étant donnés (groupe) [fr] on A New Life and with Ferdinand Grandrieux on Malgré la nuit.

Publication: "La Vie nouvelle/nouvelle Vision, à propos d'un film de Philippe Grandrieux," under the direction of Nicole Brenez, Paris, Ed. Léo Scheer, février 2005. With texts from Jonathan Rosenbaum, Raymond Bellour, Nicole Brenez, Sothean Nhieim, Fabien Gaffez, Serge Kaganski, Augustin Gimel, Lionel Soukaz, Adrian Martin, Vincent Amiel, Peter Tscherkassky... This book including a DVD of La Vie nouvelle.[4]

In 2008, the Tate Modern of London, along the retrospective "Paradise Now! Essential French Avant-Garde cinema 1890-2008," played Putting Holes in Happiness, A New Life, The Late Season and an excerpt of Un Lac (A Lake), his latest movie, which was not completed back then. Un Lac was ready for the 65th Venice Film Festival in 2008, where he won a Special Mention in the Orrizzonti Section which rewards movies that initiate new cinematographic trends.[5]

In 2011, his documentary It May Be That Beauty Has Strengthened Our Resolve - Masao Adachi (PG co-author of the project with Nicole Brenez) has been programmed in more than 35 festivals... and was awarded at: CPH:DOX Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival / Denmark. The NEW:VISION AWARD that aims at promoting the experimental documentary in the field between documentary and art was given to Philippe Grandrieux's documentary about the Japanese filmmaker Masao Adachi. The jury highlighted the film's interweaving of Adachi's aesthetic concerns with the social and political histories he lived through. 'Rather than a typical director/subject relationship, this is a collaboration between both directors, where authorship moves back and forth,' the jury's motivation said." In 2012, the film wins the Best Documentary Prize in Pantin, France and in 2013 the Best Documentary Prize - Cultural Resistance in Tripoli, Lebanon.

In 2011, Philippe Grandrieux undertakes the production of a trilogy (film and performances with dancers) on the theme of bare life, in reference to the concept of Giorgio Agamben. In 2012, White Epilepsy and/or Meurtrière and/or Unrest has been programmed at FID Marseille, Underdox Munich, FNC Montreal. In 2013, at the IFFR Rotterdam, Lincoln Center New York, Ficunam Mexico then Istanbul, Lima, Edinburgh, Wroclaw... Between 2012 and 2016 this work (films and performances) is presented at: Beaubourg Metz Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, CCN Le Havre, ICI-CCN Montpellier, Chicago University as well at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study - Harvard University.

In 2019 The Empty Gallery/Hong Kong presents all of this research, White Epilepsy, Meurtrière and Unrest, with a new piece The Scream produced and installed for this occasion and consisting of eleven projections.

Awards

1983 Juste une Image (about the new images - 9 x 55’)
co-author with Louisette Neil and Thierry Garrel
- Grand Prix Scam

1983 Pleine Lune (soirée thématique 180’)
co-author with Jérôme Prieur and Thierry Kuntzel
- Prix de l’Association française des critiques de télévision

1998 Sombre (fiction 1h52')
- Festival de Locarno: Special Mention of the jury

2009 Un lac (fiction 1h30')
- 65th Mostra of Venice Orizzonti: Special Mention of the jury

2009 Un lac (fiction 1h30')
International Film Festival of Las Palmas:
- Best Photography + Special Mention for Innovation

2016 Meurtrière (film 59' and performance - with dancers)
- Festival du nouveau cinéma de Montréal: Prix FNC LAB
- Festival FilMadrid: Mention spéciale du jury

2011 It May Be That Beauty Has Strengthened Our Resolve - Masao Adachi (documentary 74')
- CPH:DOX Copenhagen Documentary Film Festival, Danemark: « New: Vision Award » (2011)
- Festival Côté Court, Pantin: Grand Prix Expérimental (2012)
- Festival de Tripoli, Liban: Grand Prix du documentaire « Cultural Resistance » (2013)

Filmography

  • 1974 Via la vidéo: installation ( Albert Baronian Gallery / Brussels)
  • 1975 The Cubist Painting-La Peinture cubiste, co-directed by Thierry Kuntzel
  • 1982 Just An Image-Juste une image 9x55', co-directed by Thierry Garrel, Louisette Neil
  • 1982 A Generation-Une génération
  • 1983 Full Moon-Pleine Lune (Prize of the French Association of Critics of Television)
  • 1984 Full Size - Grandeur nature
  • 1985 Long courrier: documentary
  • 1987 The World is All What Happens-Le monde est tout ce qui arrive: documentary
  • 1987 Azimut (4x30', with Paul Virilio, Jean-Louis Schefer, Juan David Nasio): documentary
  • 1990 Live (14x60'), notably episodes by Robert Frank (New-York), Stephen Dwoskin (Londres), Nick Wapplington (near Newcastle), Robert Kramer (Berlin), Gary Hill (U.S.A), Thierry Kuntzel (Tampico), Daniele Incalcaterra (Moscou), Ken Kobland (Dallas)
  • 1993 The Wheel - La Roue - Episodes "Brian Holm" and "Gert Jan Theunisse": documentary
  • 1994 Jogo do Bicho: documentary
  • 1996 Brut: documentary
  • 1996 Back to Sarajevo: documentary
  • 1999 Sombre: fiction (Special Mention of the Orrizzonti jury, Locarno Film Festival)
  • 2002 La vie nouvelle: fiction
  • 2007 Putting Holes in Happiness, video for Marilyn Manson
  • 2007 Met: film and installation
  • 2007 Late Season - L'Arrière-Saison, film and installation
  • 2007 Grenoble: installation
  • 2008 Un Lac: fiction (Orrizzonti Price/Special Mention 65th Venice Film Festival)
  • 2011 Masao Adachi: documentary. First episode of the collection The Beauty May Have Strengthened Our Resoluteness (Nicole Brenez and Philippe Grandrieux dir.) The film wins, the New:Vision Award in 2011 at CPH:DOX, Copenhagen, in 2012 the Best Documentary Prize in Pantin, France and in 2013 the Best Documentary Prize - Cultural Resistance in Tripoli, Lebanon
  • 2012 White Epilepsy: film and installation
  • 2015 Meurtrière, film, performance and installation (Prix FNC LAB, Festival du Nouveau Cinéma de Montréal in 2015 - Mention spéciale, Festival FILMADRID in 2016)
  • 2015 Despite the Night: fiction
  • 2016 _ Unrest: film, performance and installation
  • 2018 _ The Scream: film and installation
  • 2018 _ La Lumière, la lumière: fiction. In the frame of Liminal including 4 films, from Lav Diaz, Manuel de Laborde, Oscar Enriquez and Philippe Grandrieux

Solo Retrospectives

  • 2005 : « Philippe Grandrieux » États généraux du film documentaire, Lussas, France
  • 2007 : « Breathless, French New New Wave » Australian Cinémathèque, Gallery of Modern Art / Brisbane, Australie
  • 2008 : « Extreme Love, around Philippe Grandrieux » Uplink, Tokyo
  • 2008 : « Paradise Now ! Essential French Avant-Garde...» Tate Modern, Londres
  • 2009 : « Ciclo Philippe Grandrieux » International Film Festival of Guadalajara, Mexique
  • 2009 : « Ciclo Philippe Grandrieux » Cineteca Nacional, Mexico D.F.
  • 2009 : « Ciclo Philippe Grandrieux » Belo Horizonte et Sao Paulo, Brésil
  • 2009 : « Ciclo Philippe Grandrieux » International Film Festival of Cali, Colombie
  • 2009 : « All about Philippe Grandrieux » CPH :DOX International Film Festival of Copenhagen, Danemark
  • 2010 : « Film Comment Selects : Philippe Grandrieux » Lincoln Center, New-York, USA
  • 2010 : « Philippe Grandrieux » Harvard Film Archive / Cambridge, Massachuset, USA
  • 2010 : « Philippe Grandrieux » International Film Festival of Las Palmas, Espagne
  • 2011 : « World Cinema Now » Monach University / Melbourne, Australie
  • 2012 : « Philippe Grandrieux Artist in Focus » Courtisane / Gent, Belgique
  • 2012 : « Hommage » organisé par la revue Hors Champ et la Cinémathèque Québécoise, dans le cadre du Festival du nouveau cinéma, Montréal
  • 2013 : « Carte Blanche à Philippe Grandrieux » Whitney Museum of American Art, New-York, USA
  • 2016 : « Philippe Grandrieux Artist in Focus » 17th Jeonju IFF, Corée du Sud
  • 2017 : « Philippe Grandrieux » Milan
  • 2017 : « Philippe Grandrieux » Séville
  • 2017 : « Philippe Grandrieux » Thessalonique
  • 2017 : « Philippe Grandrieux » ACFK Uherské Hradiště, République tchèque
  • 2019 : « Cinéma d'Avant-garde : Philippe Grandrieux » Cinémathèque française

Bibliography

  • Bellour, Raymond, "Pour Sombre," Trafic, no. 28 (Winter 1998), P.O.L.
  • ———, "Des corps renouvellés", Trafic, no. 44 (Winter 2002), P.O.L.
  • ———, "Le Futur antérieur", Trafic, no. 70 (Summer 2009), P.O.L.
  • Beugnet, Martine, Cinema and sensation: French film and the art of transgression, Edinburgh University Press, UK, 2007.
  • Brenez, Nicole, "Jeune, dure et pure ! Une histoire du cinéma d'avant-garde et expérimental en France". Cinémathèque française/ Mazzotta, 2001.
  • ———, ed. La Vie nouvelle/nouvelle Vision, à propos d'un film de Philippe Grandrieux, Léo Scheer, Paris, February 2005.
  • Blümlinger, Christa, "L'Au-delà des visages", Parachute 123 (2006).
  • Martin, Adrian, "Unfinished diary" À propos de la projection de Un lac au festival de Las Palmas, Rouge, March/April 2009
  • Rondeau, Corinne. "Sombre, la surface et la chair à propos d'un film de Philippe Grandrieux," Cinéma et inconscient, éditions Champs Vallon, France, 2001.
By Philippe Grandrieux
    • Au bord d’un lac : Qu’est-ce que le réel ? Des cinéastes prennent position [archive], dir. Andréa Picard, ed. post-éditions / Cinéma du réel, 2018
    • Rêverie d’un filmeur solitaire par Serge Kaganski : Les Inrockuptibles / 6-12 juillet 2016 n°1075
    • Journal de tournage, Malgré la nuit (2èrme partie) : Trafic, n° 98, P.O.L., été 2016
    • Journal de tournage, Malgré la nuit (1ère partie) : Mettray, ed. Didier Morin, septembre 2016
    • Philippe Grandrieux à propos d’Ariane Labed : Possession Immédiate [archive], # 3, p 62. 2015
    • La Première image, un texte écrit à l’occasion de la parution du n° 700 des Cahiers du cinéma, mai 2014
    • Congo : Trafic n° 83, P.O.L., automne 2012
    • Les Morts : Trafic n° 84, P.O.L., hiver 2012
    • À quoi bon une image : Le cinéma critique, de l’argentique au numérique, voies et formes de l’objection visuelle [archive] : Publication de la Sorbonne, 2010
    • Sous le ciel de Dwoskin : Trafic n° 76, ed. P.O.L., hiver 2010
    • One Summer : Livraison n°4 [archive] Open Landscapes – Closed rooms, p. 174, 175, 186. 2009-2010
    • Bad Lieutnant : un texte écrit à la demande de Nicole Brenez pour le livret de l’édition DVD de Bad Lieutnant d’Abel Ferrara, 2005
    • Correspondance sur La Vie nouvelle, Philippe Grandrieux et Éric Vuillard, Trafic n° 44, P.O.L., hiver 2002
    • L’Emprise : Trafic n° 38, ed. P.O.L., été 2001
    • Sur l’horizon insensé du cinéma : Cahiers du cinéma, hors-série, novembre 2000
    • Incendie : Trafic n° 16, ed. P.O.L., automne 199
Interviews
  • Bonnaud, Frédéric. Les Inrockuptibles 183 (January–February 1999).
  • Baecque, Antoine de and Thierry Jousse. Cahiers du cinéma 532 (February 1999).
  • Baldassari, Lorenzo. Lo Specchio Scuro / (Fall 2015). online
  • ———. Lo Specchio Scuro (January 2016). online
  • Béghin, Cyril, Stéphane Delorme and Mathias Lavin. Balthazar 4 (September 2000).
  • Brenez, Nicole. Rouge / 2003, no. 1. online
  • François, Elisabeth and Frédéric Bas. Chronic'Art (2002)
  • Habib, André. Interview made during the retrospective of Philippe Grandrieux's work, organised by Hors champ during le festival du nouveau cinéma à Montréal (October 2012). online
  • Goudet, Stéphane and Vassé, Claire. Positif 456 (February 1999).
  • Kaganski, Serge and Bertrand Loutte. Les Inrockuptibles 366 (November–December 2002).
  • Lipkes, Tatiana. "13 entrevitas a cineastas contemporaneos" ed. Mangos de Hacha, 2010
  • Momcilovic, Jérôme Momcilovic. Chronic'Art 53 (2008)
  • Morin, Didier. Mettray 1 (Winter 2009).
  • Masotta, Cloe. Cinetranit (29 May 2010). online
  • Sardes, Guillaume de. Prussian blue 4 (Spring 2013).

References

  1. Frédéric Zarch, Dictionnaire historique du cinéma de Saint-Étienne, PU, Saint-Étienne, 2008, p 81.
  2. Tim Palmer, Brutal Intimacy: Analyzing Contemporary French Cinema, Wesleyan University Press, Middleton CT, 2011. ISBN 0-8195-6827-9
  3. D., J-L (12 May 2005). "LA VIE NOUVELLE/ NOUVELLE VISION, dirigé par Nicole Brenez". Le Monde. Retrieved 16 August 2020.

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