We begin our tribute with the 1918 Italian short La Tosca, a lost film found by Henri Langlois in the BAM/PFA Collection, followed by three films about the Cinémathèque française cofounder. Roberto Guerra and Elia Hershon’s 1970 portrait of Langlois was filmed after his reinstatement at La Cinémathèque française, and is illustrated by interviews with Lillian Gish, Ingrid Bergman, Jeanne Moreau, Kenneth Anger, Simone Signoret, Jean Renoir, Catherine Deneuve, Viva, and Michel Auder. Langlois evokes his vision of the history of cinema and the masterpieces that have punctuated it in 1975’s Chit Chat with Henri Langlois. For La Cinémathèque française, Jean Herman filmed Henri Langlois and the personnel of La Cinémathèque française in the offices located on rue de Courcelles in 1962.

La Tosca Gustavo Serena, Alfredo De Antoni, Italy, 1918, 11:30 mins, 35mm@ 16fps, BAM/PFA Collection

Langlois Roberto Guerra, Elia Hershon, US, 1970, 52 mins, In English, Color, DCP, From La Cinémathèque française, permission Kathy Brew

Chit Chat With Henri Langlois (Conversation avec Henri Langlois) Pierre-André Boutang, Yonnick Flot, France, 1975, 22 mins, In French with English electronic titling, Color, DCP, From La Cinémathèque française

La Cinémathèque française Jean Herman, France, 1962, 8 mins, In French with English electronic titling, B&W, DCP, From La Cinémathèque française