HIGH LIFE

Claire Denis

(Paris, France, 1948) grew up in Africa, where she spent her childhood following her father, a colonial administrator—an experience that profoundly shaped her artistic sensibility. After returning to France, she graduated from the IDHEC (Institut des hautes études cinématographiques) and began her career as an assistant director, working with filmmakers such as Jacques Rivette, Costa-Gavras, Wim Wenders, and Jim Jarmusch. She gained critical acclaim with Chocolat (1988), her debut feature presented in competition at Cannes, which already explored the themes of colonialism and memory. Since then, she has built a coherent and distinctive body of work marked by a sensual and ambiguous reflection on the body, desire, and otherness. With Nénette et Boni (1996), which won the Golden Leopard at Locarno, and Beau Travail (1999), considered one of the masterpieces of contemporary cinema, Denis confirmed her unique stylistic approach—defined by ellipses, visual power, and an intense focus on the physical presence of her characters. Her later works include Trouble Every Day (2001), screened at Cannes; the masterful Vendredi soir (2003) and L’Intrus (2004), both in competition at Venice; 35 Rhums (2008); White Material (2009) starring Isabelle Huppert; the noir Bastards (2013); Let the Sunshine In (2017); High Life (2018) with Robert Pattinson and Juliette Binoche; and Both Sides of the Blade (2022), which earned her the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlinale. In 2022, she received the Cannes Grand Prix Special Jury Prize for Stars at Noon, while in 2025 she directed The Fence, based on a play by Bernard-Marie Koltès, premiered at the Torino Film Festival. She has also appeared as an actress in Laetitia Masson’s En avoir (ou pas) (1995) and Tonie Marshall’s Vénus Beauté (Institut) (2000). Widely regarded as one of the most important living French filmmakers, Denis has crafted a deeply personal and liberated cinematic language in which intimacy becomes political and visual perception replaces conventional storytelling.

FILMOGRAFIA

Le 15 mai (cm, 1971), Chroniques de France (2 ep, serie tv, 1972-1973), Chocolat (1988), Man No Run (1989), S’en fout la mort (Al diavolo la morte, 1990), Cinéma, de notre temps (2 ep, serie tv, 1990), Contre l’oubli (coregia/co-directors Chantal Akerman, René Allio, Danis Amar, Jean Becker, Jane Birkin, Jean-Michel Carré, Patrice Chéreau, Alain Corneau, Costa-Gavras, Dominique Dante, Raymond Depardon, Jacques Deray, Michel Deville, Jacques Doillon, Martine Franck, Gérard Frot-Coutaz, Francis Girod, Jean-Luc Godard, Romain Goupil, Jean-Loup Hubert, Robert Kramer, Anne-Marie Miéville, Sarah Moon, Philippe Muyl, Michel Piccoli, Alain Resnais, Coline Serreau, Bertrand Tavernier, Nadine Trintignant, 1991), Figaro Story (coregia/co-directors, Alejandro Agresti, Kaizō Hayashi, 1991), Monologues (1 ep, serie tv, 1993), J’ai pas sommeil (1994), US Go Home (film tv, 1994), Boom-Boom (cm, 1994), À propos de Nice, la suite (coregia/co-directors Catherine Breillat, Costa-Gavras, Raymond Depardon, Abbas Kiarostami, Parviz Kimiavi, Pavel Lungin, Raúl Ruiz, 1995), Nénette et Boni (Nénette e Boni, 1996), Beau travail (1999), Trouble Every Day (Cannibal Love – Mangiata viva, 2001), Vendredi soir (2002), Ten Minutes Older: The Cello (coregia/co-directors Bernardo Bertolucci, Mike Figgis, Jean-Luc Godard, Jirí Menzel, Michael Radford, Volker Schlöndorff, István Szabó, 2002), L’intrus (2004), Vers Mathilde (2005), Diaspora (serie tv, 2007), 35 rhums (2008), White Material (2009), To the Devil (cm, 2011), Les Saluds (Bastards, 2013), Voilà l’enchaînment (cm, 2014), Contact (cm, 2014), The Breidjing Camp (film tv, 2015), Un beau soleil intérieur (L’amore secondo Isabelle, 2017), High Life (2018), Avec amour et acharnement (Incroci sentimentali, 2022), Stars at Noon (Stars at Noon - Stelle a mezzogiorno, 2022), Le Cri des gardes (2025).