AMPAS ADDS WOMEN DIRECTORS: With our commitment to reviewing all new releases written and/or directed by women, FF2 Media now plays an important role in breaking down barriers. AMPAS invited 683 new members this year, 49 of whom are female directors. Who are they? What are their stories? We already know them, and we are here to tell you!
______________________________________________________________________
Anne Fontaine is a film director, screenwriter and former actress who works and lives in France. Born in Luxembourg and educated in Paris, Fontaine married Phillippe Carcassonne and adopted Cambodia-born son, Tienne.
In 1980, she joined the production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, after Robert Hossein picked for the role of Esmeralda. She continued with acting and became known for her roles in comedies like Si ma gueule vous plaît... and P.R.O.F.S.
Fontaine’s first project as a solo director, Love Affairs Usually End Badly, won the 1993 Prix Jean Vigo. In 1995, she worked with her brother on Augustin. Two years later, she wrote and directed the successful Dry Cleaning, which won the Best Screenplay award at the 1997 Venice Film Festival.
She went on to make films How I Killed My Father, Nathalie, The Girl from Mexico, Coco Before Chanel and Gemma Bovery (to name a few).
An excerpt from an FF2 Media review of Gemma Bovery from May 28, 2015:
A middle-aged French baker believes his new English neighbor is a literary archetype come to life, and falls head over heels in love with his own fantasy. What looks to be a period comedy slowly reveals itself as an erudite and insightful modern tragedy.
Gemma Bovery is a “Personal Best” for French director Anne Fontaine. The screenplay–which Fontaine co-wrote with Pascal Bonitzer–is based on Posy Simmonds’ eponymous graphic novel Gemma Bovery. Brava! (JLH: 4.5/5)
Read full review: https://ff2media.azurewebsites.net/thehotpinkpen/2015/05/28/gemma-bovery/
Read more about Anne Fontaine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Fontaine
Top Photo: Gemma Arterton as “Gemma” and Fabrice Luchini as “Martin” in Gemma Bovary.
Photo Credits: Jérôme Prébois courtesy of Music Box Films
