Biography

Jacques Doniol-Valcroze was a French critic, actor, and director. He was born March 15, 1920 in Paris, France. Doniol-Valcroze is known for having co-founded the film magazine "Cahiers du Cinéma" in 1951 along with partners André Bazin and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. The magazine was first edited by Doniol-Valcroze between 1951-1957. As a film critic, he was among the first to champion many now-legendary filmmakers, including Orson Welles, Howard Hawks, and Nicholas Ray. He played a central role as a critic in the French New Wave discussing the emergence of the new cinema as the co-founder of "Cahiers du Cinéma", and by hiring talented emerging critic/directors such as Truffaut, Godard and Rohmer to work for the magazine. His own works in this area include directing the film "L'Eau à la Bouche" and acting in a few New Wave films, including Chantal Akerman's cult feminist classic "Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles". He was friends with François Truffaut who shot his first short film "Une Visite" in his apartment. He also shot TV short documentaries on his friend Jean-Luc Godard, which highlighted Godard's views on cinema, including "Godard à propos de Brigitte Bardot". The Director's Fortnight was founded in 1968 during the strikes which closed down the Cannes Film Festival. The Fortnight was the idea of Jacques Doniol-Valcroze. The event was sponsored by his fledgling Société des Réalisateurs de Films (Film Directors Society) with the intention of opening the Cannes Festival up to lesser known filmmakers, without any bias against budgets or shooting formats. He died on October 6, 1989, age 69, in Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France.