December 12, 2024. The discerning eye of Cinema Notebooks sets its sights on a new look at the 7th art. The movie Life According to Ann by American director Joanna Arnow is unanimously acclaimed, winner of the André Bazin prize and a grant of 20,000 euros, enough to encourage others. Since 2022, the prestigious award aims to distinguish a first feature film released in France. An initiative which takes its name from one of the founders of the institution in 1951, a leading figure in modern criticism of the 7th art.
For this third editionthe jury was notably supported by the director Patricia Mazuy, the costume designer Judith de Luze, the singer Léonie Pernet, an editor of the Cahiers du Cinéma magazine, Yal Sadat and one of its loyal readers, Jean-Baptiste Doulcet. Anna Mouglalis completed the panel, the actress known from the camera of Chantal Akerman and Samuel Benchetrit notably lends her features to Gabrielle Chanel in 2009, in the film by Jan Kounen Coco Chanel et Igor Stravinsky. A role that forges his indelible link with the house of Chanel, itself a key supporter of the André Bazin Prize.
“Life According to Ann”, a first film imbued with freedom
A first feature film meticulously analyzed by the editors of the magazine, but also performers, filmmakers and industry technicians, before crowning Life According to Ann revelation of the year. For its sulphurous dramatic comedy, Joanna Arnow plays her own game.
In the skin of Ann, she plays a thirty-something New Yorker who undresses sexuality with great freedom. “This first feature film is all the more perilous and precious at a time when American independent cinema finds itself on the verge of asphyxiation, and sometimes of uniform formatting, despite the many talents who keep its flame alive” affirms the editorial staff of Cahiers du Cinéma in a press release.
Chanel and Les Cahiers du Cinéma, a ready-made story
Cradle of the New Wave, the magazine Les Cahiers du Cinéma stands out as the collection of new promises from all walks of life. A look at cinema like that which Gabrielle Chanel had on her flagship muses of the 7th art. Among them, the muse of François Truffaut, Anna Karinawhose stage name she found, but also Anouk Aimée and her 2.55 bag, to whom she offered a role in a key scene ofA man and a woman by Claude Lellouch.
Obviously, the house is joining forces with Les Cahiers du Cinéma in this support for the younger generation. Following in the footsteps of Monica Vitti and Jeanne Moreau, Chanel invited its current muses to celebrate the winner of the André Bazin prize, at La Coupole, for summit meetings. From Rebecca Marder to Ella Rumpf, Kim Higelin and Sami Outalbali, the new hopes for French-speaking cinema exchanged with their elders, from Clémence Poesy to Amira Casar and Olivier Dahan.
