Claire Denis

laire Denis is a doyenne of mood, atmosphere and the movements of the body. Her films often feature memorable dance sequences. The famous finale of 1999’s sees Denis Lavant absolutely lose himself to Corona’s ‘Rhythm of the Night’. Equally joyful abandon exists in 1994’s , while a highlight of her latest, , sees Juliette Binoche, eyes closed in a nightclub, swaying to ‘At Last’ by Etta James, her face glowing with private exultation. Denis likes to write her films with others. Jean-Pol Fargeau co-wrote eight of her 12 fiction features (make that nine once with Robert Pattinson arrives later this year). This time she pursued a collaboration with Christine Angot, a playwright whose short script about a couple breaking up, , Denis directed in 2014. Once again, the talents of her longest-term allies – cinematographer Agnès Godard, whom she met on the set of (on which she worked as assistant director), and actor Alex Descas – are in the mix. The result is a romcom which doubles as a humanist pearl for the ages. It stars Juliette Binoche as Isabelle