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Valérie Donzelli

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Valérie Donzelli
Valérie Donzelli in 2019
Born (1973-03-02) 2 March 1973 (age 51)
Épinal, Vosges, France
NationalityFrench
Occupations
  • Film director
  • actress
  • screenwriter
Years active1998–present
Children2

Valérie Donzelli (born 2 March 1973) is a French actress, filmmaker and screenwriter. She has directed six feature films and two short films since 2008, including the film Declaration of War (2011).

Early life

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Valérie Donzelli was born in Épinal (France). She grew up in Créteil, near Paris. She moved to Lille with her family when she was 14 years old before going back to Paris at the age of 19. Before starting to work in the cinema, Donzelli first studied architecture, but abandoned it quickly. She started playing theatre at the municipal conservatory of the 10th arrondissement of Paris, but always kept a bad memory of this period. For a living, she worked at a bakery in Paris. She met Jérémie Elkaïm at that time, who became her partner, both in life and at work, and who encouraged her to quit the conservatory and her job at the bakery to become an actress. They now have two kids; the oldest one, Gabriel, inspired the movie Declaration of War. They are now separated, but still have a close relationship.[1][2]

Career

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In 2001, Valérie Donzelli was the leading actress in Martha Martha, by Sandrine Veysset, which was presented at Directors' Fortnight, Le Plus Beau Jour de ma vie, and also Entre ses mains. She achieved great success among French public thanks to the French TV show Clara Sheller (2005), in which she plays Jeanne, best friend of the main character. Donzelli's first film, The Queen of Hearts (La Reine des Pommes), in which she was the leading actress, was more successful than expected. Jérémie Elkaïm is also co-writer. The film was presented at Locarno International Film Festival. Despite its low budget, the film can be considered a success because of its 30,000 spectators.[3][4]

In 2011, with the help of her now ex-partner Jérémie Elkaïm, Valérie Donzelli directed her second full-length feature film, Declaration of War. This movie, presented during the 2011 Cannes Festival, achieved great success, both with the public and critics, in France. It is directly inspired by their private life, relating how their couple fought against their son's cancer when he was 18 months.[5] As Tim Palmer notes, "Declaration of War serves as an emblematic, even quintessential, contemporary French production: a barometer to gauge film industry standards and prevailing French cultural taste, a standard-bearer of ostensibly progressive materials, an ambassador text for French screen values."[6] The movie was selected for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012, but was not part of the final list.

Donzelli directed once again Jérémie Elkaïm in Hand in Hand (2012), with also Valérie Lemercier in the leading role.

Donzelli considers that this is always a politic and engaged gesture to make films as women, and admires Agnès Varda for her work and her status of first women filmmaker into French Cinema.[1]

Valérie Donzelli is part of the jury during Locarno International Film Festival in 2013. She presents Que d'Amour!, a TV adaptation from the play The Game of Love and Chance (Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard), by Marivaux, with Comédie-Française' sociétaires.[4]

Her 2015 film Marguerite & Julien was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.[7] She was named as the president of the jury of the Critics' Week section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.[8]

Filmography

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Actress

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Features

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Year Title Role Director Notes
2001 Martha Martha Martha Sandrine Veysset
Les Âmes câlines Émilie Thomas Bardinet
2003 Who Killed Bambi? Nathalie Gilles Marchand
That Woman Claire Atken Guillaume Nicloux
2005 Le Plus Beau Jour de ma vie Éléonore Julie Lipinski
Mystification ou l'histoire des portraits Emilie Sandrine Rinaldi
Voici venu le temps Soniéra Noubi-Datch Alain Guiraudie
Entre ses mains Valérie Anne Fontaine
2006 The Untouchable theatre actress Benoît Jacquot
L'Homme qui rêvait d'un enfant Suzanne Delphine Gleize
2007 7 ans Maïté Jean-Pascal Hattu
2009 The Queen of Hearts Adèle Valérie Donzelli
2010 Ivory Tower Baker Adam Traynor
2011 Declaration of War Juliette Valérie Donzelli
Belleville Tokyo Marie Tourelle Élise Girard
Iris in Bloom Monika Valérie Mréjen and Bertrand Schefer
Pourquoi tu pleures? Anna Katia Lewkowicz
L'Art de séduire Estelle Guy Mazarguil
2012 Hand in Hand Véro Valérie Donzelli
2013 Opium Valentine Hugo Arielle Dombasle
The Big Bad Wolf Nathalie Delcroix Nicolas Charlet and Bruno Lavaine
Les Grandes Ondes (à l'ouest) Julie Lionel Baier
2014 Saint Laurent Renée Bertrand Bonello
2015 The White Knights Françoise Dubois Joachim Lafosse
Orage Louise Fabrice Camoin
2019 Mais vous êtes fous Maître Mangin Audrey Diwan
Notre dame Maud Crayon Valérie Donzelli
2020 Trop d'amour La réalisatrice dans le rêve Frankie Wallach
2021 On est fait pour s'entendre Léna Pascal Elbé
Madeleine Collins Madeleine Reynal Antoine Barraud
2022 Azuro Sara Matthieu Rozé

Short films

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Year Title Role Director Notes
1998 Herbert C. Berliner Marc Gibaja
1999 Le Spectateur Cynthia Marc Gibaja
2000 Demoiselle Adèle Valérie Donzelli
2001 Confessions dans un bain Sophie Marc Gibaja
Le Chien, le chat et le cibachrome La candidate peintre Didier Blasco
2003 Ni vue, ni connue Alice Dorothée Sebbagh
Le Lion volatil La cliente en pleurs Agnès Varda
2004 Frédérique amoureuse Frédérique Pierre Lacan
Le Nécrophile La prostituée Philippe Barassat
2005 On est mort un million de fois Valentine Dorothée Sebbagh
2006 Odile... Odile Bénédicte Delgéhier
2007 Abattoir Judith Didier Blasco
Il fait beau dans la plus belle ville du monde Adèle Valérie Donzelli
2008 C'est pour quand? La jeune fille Katia Lewkowicz
2009 Juliette Juliette Sylvie Ballyot
2010 Madeleine et le facteur Madeleine Valérie Donzelli
Manu Julie Jérémie Elkaïm
2012 Révolution Nadia Jandeau
2017 Quand la ville dort La prof (voice) Simon Helloco

Television

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Year Title Role Director Notes
1999 Dossier: disparus épisode Amanda Amanda/Muriel Frédéric Demont et Philippe Lefebvre
1999 Les Terres froides Isabelle Sébastien Lifshitz
2002 Sous mes yeux Alison Virginie Wagon
2003 Motus La stagiaire d'Antoine Laurence Ferreira Barbosa
2005 Le Cocon, débuts à l'hôpital Nathalie Pascale Dallet
Clara Sheller Jeanne Renaud Bertrand
2006 Mentir un peu Blandine Agnès Obadia
Passés troubles Sophie Valatier Serge Meynard
2007 Les Camarades Julie François Luciani Miniseries
2008 Sa raison d'être Nathalie Renaud Bertrand
Mafiosa, le clan Saison 2 L'avocate Eric Rochant
2009 La Belle vie by Virginie Wagon Béa
2018 Nox Emma Delage Mabrouk El Mechri
2021 Nona et ses filles George Valérie Donzelli 9 episodes

Filmmaker

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Feature films

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Year Title Director Screenwriter Notes
2009 The Queen of Hearts Yes Yes
2011 Declaration of War Yes Yes
2012 Hand in Hand Yes Yes
2015 Marguerite & Julien Yes Yes
2019 Notre Dame Yes Yes
2023 Just the Two of Us Yes Yes

Short films

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Year Title Director Screenwriter Notes
2000 Demoiselle Yes Yes
2007 Il fait beau dans la plus belle ville du monde Yes Yes
2010 Madeleine et le facteur Yes Yes
2012 La Vie parisienne No Yes Original idea
2018 Le cinéma de maman Yes Yes

Television

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Year Title Director Screenwriter Notes
2013 Que d'amour! Yes Yes TV movie
Adaptation from The Game of Love and Chance, by Marivaux[4]
2021 Nona et ses filles Yes Yes 9 episodes

Awards and nominations

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Valérie Donzelli et Jérémie Elkaïm, à l'assaut de la vie" [Valerie Donzelli and Jérémie Elkaïm, on the assault of life] (in French). 3 September 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  2. ^ Aurélien Ferenczi (3 September 2011). "Valérie Donzelli et Jérémy Elkaïm, l'épreuve par deux" [Valérie Donzelli and Jérémy Elkaïm, the event by two] (in French). Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Valérie Donzelli, reine du burlesque" [Valerie Donzelli, queen of burlesque] (in French). 22 August 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  4. ^ a b c "Valérie Donzelli, championne de triathlon" [Valérie Donzelli, triathlon champion]. Le Monde (in French). 22 August 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Valérie Donzelli et Jérémie Elkaïm, du côté de la vie" [Valerie Donzelli and Jérémie Elkaïm, on the side of life] (in French). 11 May 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  6. ^ Palmer, Tim (2017). "War and Peace in the Contemporary French Film Ecosystem: Valérie Donzelli's La Guerre est declarée". Modern & Contemporary France. 25 (1): 31–47. doi:10.1080/09639489.2016.1202219. S2CID 148559928.
  7. ^ "2015 Official Selection". Cannes. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  8. ^ "Jury 2016". Semaine de la Critique de Cannes. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  9. ^ ""La Guerre est déclarée" de Valérie Donzelli triomphe au festival de Paris". 12 July 2011.

Further reading

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