When a selection of Anne-Marie Miéville's films was first presented at the Rotterdam Film Festival in 2001, it generated tremendous excitement. Although she has collaborated with Jean-Luc Godard over the last thirty years (beginning with Ici et Ailleurs) as codirector, cowriter, editor, and art director on numerous video essays and feature films, Miéville's name and participation are little known and seldom noted. Yet strategies employed in her own films - a concern with women's place in today's world, a focus on social context, the use of deliberate, unnaturalistic delivery, and stylized editing - are both innovative and exhilarating in their own right and familiar from the collaborative work. She has been characterized as a "cineaste of the word" (Jacques Deniel) and as creating a "cinema between narration and abstraction" (Danièle Hibon). Her work centers on men and women who endeavor to move from disillusionment to love, from silence to dialogue. - Kathy Geritz In addition to Miéville's own feature films and shorts we will present a sampling of Miéville and Godard's codirected work.Supported by Pro Helvetia, the Arts Council of Switzerland. With thanks to Ralph McKay, who organized this series.
