Jacques Doniol-Valcroze

Jacques Doniol-Valcroze — Biography

Jacques Doniol-Valcroze was born on 15 March 1920 in the 6th arrondissement of Paris and died on 6 October 1989 in Cannes. A French filmmaker who worked as an actor, director, screenwriter, and critic, he co-founded the magazine Cahiers du Cinéma in 1951 together with André Bazin and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca, serving as its editor until 1957. As a critic he helped bring recognition to directors such as Orson Welles, Howard Hawks, Nicholas Ray, and Alain Robbe-Grillet.

On screen, he appeared in films including L'Immortelle (1963), Le bel âge (1960), Out 1 (1971), and Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975). In 1955, a then 23-year-old François Truffaut cast his young daughter Florence in a small role in the short film Une Visite, shot in Doniol-Valcroze's own apartment; that same year he sat on the jury of the 16th Venice Film Festival, and in 1964 on the jury of the 14th Berlin Film Festival.

Married to actress Françoise Brion, Doniol-Valcroze is remembered as an influential editorial and critical voice who helped shape the intellectual foundations of the French New Wave.