For more than a decade, from 1991 to 2003, Pierre Chevalier presided over the fiction department he established at ARTE, the premier French-German television company. In that time, Chevalier was responsible for more than 350 international productions or coproductions, a staggering number that is all the more remarkable for the extraordinary quality and diversity of what was made. The Age of Chevalier marked a renaissance in French cinema and television, heralding the arrival of a daring new wave of French filmmakers—including Laurent Cantet, Claire Denis, Pascale Ferran, Cédric Klapisch, and Sébastien Lifshitz—and demonstrating an unparalleled commitment to filmmakers from developing countries, particularly former French colonies, including Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad), Rithy Panh (Cambodia), Ghassan Salhab (Lebanon), and Abderrahmane Sissako (Mauritania). Moreover, French masters like Catherine Breillat, Patrice Chéreau, Philippe Garrel, Benoît Jacquot, and André Téchiné made some of their finest work for ARTE during this period, as did international directors like Hal Hartley (USA), Chantal Akerman (Belgium), João César Monteiro (Portugal), Tsai Ming-liang (Taiwan), Romuald Karmakar (Germany), Pedro Costa (Portugal), Robert Wilson (USA), and Lars von Trier (Denmark). This exhibition features approximately thirty fiction features and short films produced by ARTE under Pierre Chevalier’s aegis, including eight New York premieres.
Abderrahmane Sissako introduces his film Waiting for Happiness on January 24, and, as part of Modern Mondays, Pascale Ferran discusses her adaptation of Lady Chatterley on January 28.
Organized by Joshua Siegel, Assistant Curator, Department of Film, and Arnaud Louvet, an independent producer and curator. Special thanks to Jérôme Clément, President, and André de Margerie and Delphine Pertus, ARTE; and Emilie Berteau, Sandrine Butteau, Pauline Labib, Ricardo Cabos Mato, and Delphine Selles.
The Age of Chevalier is made possible with the support of ARTE, France, and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, New York.
The Department of Film acknowledges the participating distributors: Ed Arentz, Argentine Film Institute, ARTE, Connaissance du Cinéma, Kino International, Leisure Time Films, New Yorker Films, Pyramide Distribution, and Strand Releasing.
Subtitling services provided by Sub-Ti Ltd.