Nouvelles Femmes: Modern Women of the French New Wave and Their Enduring Contribution to Cinema

by Ericka Knudson

Overview

Celebrate the iconic female actors and filmmakers of the French New Wave with a compelling examination of their role as a vital part of cinema history, as well as their influence on attitudes and style in film and in society that endures to this day.

Admired by cinephiles worldwide, women of the French New Wave stand as icons of one of the most innovative times in cinema with their individual voices, undeniable presence, and authentic characters. Legends of style, mystique, and individuality, actresses such as Anna Karina, Jeanne Moreau, Jean Seberg, Brigitte Bardot, and filmmaker Agnès Varda, stand out as emblems of the movement.

Nouvelles Femmes offers a new perspective on these captivating women through quotes from the films, the directors, and, most importantly, the women themselves. With accomplishments ranging from acting, writing, and directing to activism, women of the French New Wave paved the way for today’s modern women.

This beautifully crafted and thoroughly researched book captures their powerful influence and makes an essential gift for movie lovers and devotees of French film history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781797228907
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	06/03/2025
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Ericka Knudson is a noted author and scholar on the French New Wave. She has published numerous articles on cinematic modernity, and the role of women and literature in the movement, as well as a pedagogical book on world cinema. She holds a PhD in Film Studies from the University of Paris and has taught French film and media at Harvard University.

Editorial Reviews

The enthusiasm that runs throughout Nouvelles Femmes transcends any agenda, restoring to these great films some of the freshness and excitement they created on first release.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Engaging, well-researched cultural history.... Film historian Knudson looks at French cinema, with a focus on female actors, writers, and directors who shaped, and were shaped by, the artistic revolution known as the New Wave…. In the 1950s, influenced by Hollywood movies that featured feisty, strong-willed women, New Wave directors created movies that reflected the tensions and realities of women’s lives. Some New Wave films introduced young free spirits rejecting social strictures; others, multifaceted, mature women facing the complexities of their lives…. Drawing liberally on interviews, Knudson allows her large cast of characters to speak candidly and perceptively about their lives and work.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2025-04-04
Women and film in France.

Film historian Knudson looks at French cinema, with a focus on female actors, writers, and directors who shaped, and were shaped by, the artistic revolution known as the New Wave. Brigitte Bardot, Jeanne Moreau, Anna Karina, Anouk Aimee, Jean Seberg, Delphine Seyrig, and Agnès Varda are among many others who broke away from stereotypical female characters in pre–World War II films dominated by costumed, high-budget, historical dramas—disparagingly called cinéma de papa—starring actresses who fit a mold of glamour and sexual allure. In the 1950s, influenced by Hollywood movies that featured feisty, strong-willed women, New Wave directors—such as Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, and Louis Malle—created movies that both drew on their idealized images of women and evolved to reflect the tensions and realities of women’s lives. Some New Wave films introduced young free spirits rejecting social strictures; others, multifaceted, mature women facing the complexities of their lives. Viewers were drawn to the dynamics between male and female characters, as well as between actresses and directors. Knudson examines these relationships in detail: Bardot and Roger Vadim; Moreau, Malle, and Truffaut; Emmanuelle Riva and Alain Renais; Karina and Godard; Godard and Seberg. These affairs led many directors to envision women as passive, beautiful objects of desire, but over time, that image began to shatter. “I’m not an apparition, I am a woman,” Seyrig retorts in Truffaut’sStolen Kisses (1968). Knudson reveals how women’s images were compounded by official censorship and directors’ self-censorship, which avoided nudity and subjects such as abortion, birth control, and prostitution. Drawing liberally on interviews, Knudson allows her large cast of characters to speak candidly and perceptively about their lives and work.

Engaging, well-researched cultural history.

Kirkus Reviews