Céline Sciamma is a screenwriter and film director.
She was born on the 12th of November 1978 in Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, France.
As a child, she was an avid reader and developed an interest in film in her teenage years. She cites her grandmother as inspiration to her love of film, saying that she had a great interest in old American movies.
As a teen Céline attended "Utopia", a local art house cinema up to three times a week.
After finishing school Sciamma earned a master's degree in French Literature at Paris Nanterre University before attending the prestigious La Fémis, French film school where she studied from 2001 to 2005.
When she was studying at film school her goal was to become a screenwriter or work as a film critic, directing was not really on her radar.
As part of her final evaluation at film school Céline wrote the script "Water Lilies".
The chairman of the evaluation panel at La Fémis, French actor, film director and screenwriter Xavier Beauvois, who loved the script and saw the potential in Céline persuaded her to actually make the film a reality and direct it herself.
One year after graduating she made the film in her home town and it became her feature film debut.
"Water Lilies" (2007)
Directed by Céline Sciamma, Written by Céline Sciamma, Produced by Bénédicte Couvreur & Jérôme Dopffer, Music by Para One, Cinematography by Crystel Fournier, Edited by Julien Lacheray, Starring Pauline Acquart, Louise Blachère, Adèle Haenel.Set during a sultry summer in a French suburb, Marie is desperate to join the local pool's synchronized swimming team, but is her interest solely for the sake of sport or for a chance to get close to team member Floriane. The two leads, capture the uncertainty of teenage sexuality with a sympathetic eye in this delicate drama of the angst of coming-of-age.
The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival but went on to win the Prix de la jeunesse at The Cabourg Film Festival and the Louis Delluc Prize.
The film secured three nominations for the 2008 César Awards;
Céline Sciamma was nominated for the César Award for Best Debut,
and actresses Adèle Haenel and Louise Blachère were both nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actress.
(The César Awards are the French Oscars)
Sciamma directed her first short film in 2009, "Pauline" the film was made as part of a French government anti-homophobia campaign called "Five films against homophobia". In April 2010 Céline wrote a script and went into preproduction. On the first day of casting she found her child actor for the lead role and in August 2010 the film was shot over 20 days with a small crew.
Tomboy (2011)
Directed by Céline Sciamma, Screenplay by Céline Sciamma, Produced by Bénédicte Couvreur, Music by Para One, Edited by Julien Lacheray, Starring Zoé Héran,
Malonn Lévana, Sophie Cattani, Mathieu Demy & Jeanne Disson.
The story follows Laure a 10-year-old gender non-conforming child, who moves to a new neighborhood for the summer and takes the opportunity to experiment with their gender presentation and adopting the name Mickaël
when making new friends for the summer.
The film was a hit on the film festival circuit and was nominated and won many awards and was celebrated as a triumph in LGBTQ+ cinema.
Legendary film critic Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half out of four, commenting that Tomboy is "tender and affectionate".
Sciamma's next project was inspired by the gangs of girls she would see around the Les Halles shopping center and the Métro in Paris.
Girlhood (2014)
Directed by Céline Sciamma, Written by Céline Sciamma, Produced by Bénédicte Couvreur, Music by Para One, Cinematography by Crystel Fournier, Edited by Julien Lacheray, Starring Karidja Touré,
Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh & Mariétou Touré.
Marieme joins an all-girl gang in the projects of Paris and is slowly turned out of her shell by her three sassy neighbours. As she falls further under their bravado and volatile energy, she begins making brave and foolish choices.
The film's cast is made up of young women who were scouted from the streets in Paris.
This film feels incredibly real, honest and in no way heightened. I found myself thinking "should I be seeing this?" like I was peeking into someone else's life, not like standard movie voyeurism, more like reading someone's diary.
The film features a prominent scene that uses the song "Diamonds" by Rihanna.
The scene was shot with the girls without thinking about securing the rights to the song during post-production Rihanna's management was given the scene to view and Rihanna agreed to grant her the rights to the usage of the song for a minimal fee.
The film premiered on the 15th of May 2014 at the Cannes film festival.
The film garnered positive reviews. Mark Kermode gave it 5/5 and wrote,
watching Girlhood, you never get the sense that it is being driven by any sociopolitical objective. On the contrary, what comes through most is the sheer affection for these characters, a bittersweet admiration of their strengths and complexities, an absence of moralising about their lifestyles (rare in films dealing with teen gangs), a celebration of their interpersonal diversity. The result is honest, empowering and electrifying. Bravo!
I am perhaps guilty of over using the word masterpiece but it really is the best word to describe Sciamma's next film.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Directed by Céline Sciamma, Written by Céline Sciamma, Produced by Bénédicte Couvreur,
Music by Jean-Baptiste de Laubier & Arthur Simonini, Cinematography by Claire Mathon, Edited by Julien Lacheray, Starring Noémie Merlant & Adèle Haenel.
France, 1770. Marianne, a painter, is commissioned to do the wedding portrait of Héloïse, a young woman who has just left the convent. Héloïse is a reluctant bride to be and Marianne must paint her without her knowing. She observes her by day, to paint her secretly.
This is a truly remarkable film. A spectacular script telling a beautiful story, exquisite cinematography, a formidable cast and a pitch perfect score. Céline Sciamma shows us and explores desire, sexuality, gender, and the female gaze.
The film premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
The film went on to be nominated for around 80 awards around the world. including winning the award for Best Screenplay and the Queer Palm at Canne and multiple other wins globally.
Céline Sciamma's film took the independent cinema scene by storm and it was a genuine hit.
The film was made for $5,385,000 and grossed a little over $10m at the boxoffice which is remarkable considering it is a french language, queer, period piece.
Although it is set in eighteenth century France the themes and motifs are truly timeless. This film blew me away when I saw it and I am not the only one.
"Portrait of a Lady on Fire" was voted the 30th greatest film of all time in the Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll. This film will be in the mix every time lists of the best films ever are being discussed for the foreseeable future.
It is fair to say that with Portrait of a Lady on Fire set a pretty high bar for Céline but her next offering also floored me.
Petite Maman (2021)
Directed by Céline Sciamma, Written by Céline Sciamma, Produced by Bénédicte Couvreur, Music byPara One, Cinematography by Claire Mathon, Edited by Julien Lacheray,
Starring Joséphine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz,
Stéphane Varupenne, Nina Meurisse & Margo Abascal.
Nelly, an eight-year-old girl, has just lost her beloved grandmother and is helping her parents clean out her mother's childhood home. One day Nelly meets a girl her own age as she's building a den in the woods.
This film is magical, deeply thought provoking and an emotional watch.
A beautiful succinct story told by a skilled filmmaker. I don't want to talk about the plot I just want to tell you to watch and experience this film for yourself.
The film had its world premiere at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival on the 3rd of March 2021. Due to covid it had an underwhelming performance at the box office but the streaming service MUBI acquired the distribution rights for the film in the UK and Ireland making it available to see and the film received widespread critical acclaim.
Mark Kermode called it his favourite film of 2021 and he wrote,
"Whether you are six or 60, this astonishingly insightful and heartbreakingly hopeful cinematic poem will pierce your heart, broaden your mind and gladden your soul, even as you wipe away tears."
Céline Sciamma is a formidable talent and has an original and in my opinion an important voice in modern cinema.
“My films, it’s always the same, It’s always about a few days out of the world, where we can meet each lover, love each other. Also it’s always about female characters because they can be themselves only in a private place where they can share their loneliness, their dreams, their attitudes, their ideas.” Céline Sciamma
You may be able to guess my recommendations,
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) You can stream this on Netflix with a subscription.
or you can rent it via Prime Video or Apple TV for £2.49
Petite Maman (2021) You can stream this on MUBI with a subscription.
or you can rent it via Prime Video for £3.49 or Apple TV for £4.99
