Producer Lucy Darwin [producer of Lost In La Mancha, Match Point) and Natasha Bhatia will co-present the inaugural Dora Maar Film Festival, which will run August 29-31 in the village of Ménerbes, in the heart of Provence. Honouring the spirit of its namesake, the multi-disciplinary surrealist artist Dora Maar, who lived in Ménerbes, the first edition will feature six documentaries about photography and photographers.
Co-founder Lucy Darwin comments: “Our hope is that this festival becomes a special gathering place for filmmakers and film lovers alike. Small film festivals have a unique magic—intimate spaces where meaningful connections happen. We are very proud that in our very first edition, every film will be represented by someone involved in its making, including four directors, an editor, and a historian. In doing so, we will carry forward the Dora Maar Cultural Center’s proud tradition of bringing artists and their work to the Luberon and fostering rich public engagement.”
Gwen Strauss, Director of the Dora Maar Cultural Center, adds: “This new film festival is a continuation of the Dora Maar Cultural Center’s central aim: connecting people with artists, and with the stories they bring into the world.”
The inaugural doc selection includes:
- the French premiere of Margy Kinmonth’s feature documentary War Paint Women At War. “This beautiful film shines a light on the trailblazing role of women war artists, on the front lines round the world,” says co-founder Darwin.
- Capturing Lee Miller in which filmmaker Teresa Griffiths documents the extraordinary life of the model and a contemporary of Dora Maar.
- Sabine Weiss, One Century of Photography directed by Camille Ménager. Weiss modestly said, “I am not an artist, I am an artisan” and yet her work unquestionably rivals her contemporaries Henri Cartier Bresson and Robert Doisneau, points out Darwin.
- Dora Maar Between Light & Shade by Marie-Eve de Grave, which focuses on the artist’s unique body of work and her unconventional life, including her relationship with Pablo Picasso.
- Luberon resident photographer and filmmaker Lee Shulman’s I Am Martin Parr.
- Raoul Peck’s Ernest Cole: Lost & Found which reveals the lost archive of Ernest Cole who documented South Africa’s apartheid before being exiled to the USA.
Afternoon talks will be held at the elegant Hôtel de Tingry, while films will be screened “under the stars” at the Le Domaine du Fortin, a traditional Provençal mansion.
Future editions of the Dora Maar Film Festival “will explore a specific artistic discipline each year, delving into the worlds of music, fine art, performance art, fashion, literature, architecture, poetry, dance, design, and the art of food and wine,” write organisers.
