Michel Ciment

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Michel Ciment
Ciment in 2010
Born(1938-05-26)26 May 1938
Died13 November 2023(2023-11-13) (aged 85)
Paris, France
EducationLycée Louis-Le-Grand
Lycée Condorcet
Sorbonne
Amherst College[1]
Occupation(s)Film critic
Editor

Michel Ciment (French: [simɑ̃]; 26 May 1938 – 13 November 2023) was a French film critic and the editor of the cinema magazine Positif.

Michel Ciment was born in Paris on 26 May 1938.[1][2] He was a Chevalier of the Order of Merit, Knight of the Legion of Honour, Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters, and the president of FIPRESCI. Ciment died in Paris on 13 November 2023, at the age of 85.[3]

Ciment was noted for his love for American film, somewhat unusual in his French cultural environment. He credited his Americophilia to his memories of the liberation of Paris by American soldiers in 1944, when he was a child. Ciment's parents were Alexander and Helene Cziment; they changed their last name after the war. His father was a Hungarian-Jewish tailor and an immigrant to France, putting the family in particular danger during the Nazi occupation.[1]

He wrote books on great film directors, which were based on extensive interviews with their subjects. An anthology of interviews, Film World, was published in English 2009.[1]

Favorite films[edit]

Ciment participated in the 2012 Sight & Sound critics' poll, where he listed his ten favorite films as follows: 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Earrings of Madame de..., Fellini's Casanova, Persona, Providence, The Rules of the Game, Salvatore Giuliano, Sansho the Bailiff, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, and Trouble in Paradise.[4]

Publications[edit]

Film festival juror[edit]

Honours and distinctions[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Nossiter, Adam (15 December 2023). "Michel Ciment, Eminent French Film Critic, Is Dead at 85". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  2. ^ New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors
  3. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (13 November 2023). "Michel Ciment Dies: French Film Critic & Historian Was 85". Deadline. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Michel Ciment | BFI". Archived from the original on 18 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Berlinale 1976: Juries". berlinale.de. Retrieved 14 July 2010.

External links[edit]