Institut Français de Grèce — Greek Film Archive
Main sponsor: Total Hellas SA

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One year after the great loss of Anna Karina, the Institut Français de Grèce and the Greek Film Archive are co-organising an online tribute to the Nouvelle Vague’s muse. From the 8^th till the 14^th of December 2020, you will have the opportunity to rediscover 6 masterpieces, of the actress adored by Jean-Luc Godard.

Godard, pens three films of the tribute starring his then-wife. Une femme est une femme/A Woman is a Woman, the just third feature-film of the actresses long career, which was released in Greece under the title The Lady Wants Love, Anna Karina plays Angela, a young stripper who wants to become a mother. In 1965, when Pierrot le Fou was released, is was deemed inappropriate for minors, and was banned on the grounds that it promoted “moral and intellectual anarchy”—in this explosive road movie, Karina portrays the enigmatic and persecuted Marianne. Finally, in the masterful sci-fi film, Alphaville, we are transported to the city of the same name, where all emotions are forbidden. Karina portrays, the daughter of the tyrannical professor von Braun, when the secret service agent Lemmy Caution, makes a sudden appearance in her life.

Besides the three films by the great French-Swiss director, the tribute will include the film La Religieuse/The Nun, by Jacques Rivette; which remains in history as the greatest state-censorship scandal in the chronicles of French cinema: in 1967, when it was first released, after strong criticism against its ban, the film swiftly and rightly found its way to success. The film L’Assassin Musicien/The Musician Killer, will also be screened; the first feature-film by Benoît Jacquot—a cinematic adaption of a novel by Dostoyevsky, which narrates the descent into madness and crime of a young clarinetist.

And finally, the film Vivre Ensemble/Our Life Together; Anna Karina’s directorial debut. It is a dramatic comedy, set in Paris and New York of the early 70s, and tells the story of a couple’s tumultuous relationship.

It is no coincidence, that the Festival de Cannes, chose for its central poster of its 71^st edition, the restored “Pierrot le Fou” and the legendary kiss between Karina and Belmondo. Anna Karina, more than any other Godard female star; even Bardot, embodies the ultimate portrait of the “young woman”, seductive; mysterious—at times destructive (Marianne) and at others liberating and supportive (Natacha).

A few words about Anna Karina

Hanne Karin Bayer was born in Denmark on the 22^nd of September 1940, where she took her first steps as a model. In 1958, she moved to Paris without knowing a single word of French, yet her dazzling beauty did not go unnoticed. One day, whilst siting at the famous café Les Deux Magots at Quartier Latin, she was approached by an agent who offered her work as a model. Soon enough, she became well sought-after and in high demand. Photo-shoots for magazines came one after another, and she socialised with important personalities of the fashion world—whilst she was “baptised” as Anna Karina by Coco Chanel, herself.

At the age of 19, she met Jean-Luc Godard and became his companion and muse, but also a symbol of the French New Wave. Together, they make seven films, whilst in Une femme est une femme, 1961, Karina is awarded with the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

On the years of her collaboration with Godard she said that: “We never thought that these film would become so popular, for such a long period of time. We where simply very happy to be doing things. We were bohemians. We knew we were doing something we liked and that it was different”.

Apart from her career in film, she also made a career for herself as a singer, mainly by Serge Gainsbourg’s side, whilst she also involved herself in the writing of novels. In 1972, Karina founded her own production company and released her directorial debut Our Life Together (Vivre ensemble, 1973)—which was screened in the 26^th Cannes Film Festival. In 2008, she also directed the French-Canadian film Victoria.

She passed away on December 14, 2019 at the age of 79.

Credits

Head of Programme: Patrick Comoy-Director Institut français de Grèce, Maria Komninos – President BoD Greek Film Archive | Program Selection: Institut français de Grèce, Greek Film Archive | Programme Coordination (IFG): Théo Koutsaftis | Programme Coordination Partner (GFA): Phaedra Papadopoulou

GREEK FILM ARCHIVE Executive Manager Online Event: Electra Venaki (altcine) | Production manager: Katerina Koutsoyannaki | Websites & social media: Ioanna H. Pipides | Communication & publicity manager: Evanna Venardou | Public relations & hospitality manager: Eliza Soroga | Writing, editing, and translation in English (film synopses): Nikos Savvatis | Digital film trafficking, format check, and file conversion: Tassos Adamopoulos | Assistant production manager: Michalis Astras | Administration: Smaro Stavropoulou | Accounts department: Vassilis Bibas

We thank Electra-Errika Haidouli for her assistance.

Useful Information

Ticket: 3€. Pre-sale commences on Monday 07/12/2020 at 12:00 noon.
All films will be screened in French with Greek subtitles.
Create your account on the platform: online.tainiothiki.gr, and buy tickets for the films you are interested in. You have 30 hours to complete viewing for each film.
For optimal viewing quality, connect to the platform from Edge on Windows or from Safari on a MacOS PC.

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