NEW YORK, December 4, 2014 — On December 15, 2014 Richard Brody, film critic at The New Yorker, will be awarded Chevalier of the French Order of Arts and Letters by Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy Antonin Baudry in New York.
Brody is receiving this distinction in recognition of his work of introducing little-known aspects of French cinema to an American audience, both through his reviews and his other writings.“Instead of applying preconceived theories or ideas to the films he so loves, Richard Brody acknowledges the deeply personal nature of the experience of watching a movie.
Drawing on a vast wealth of knowledge about French cinema, his criticism contains a unique blend of emotion and erudition. It’s obvious from his writings that he is as immersed in French culture as the men and women of the New Wave, who play a lead role in one of his main areas of expertise”, stated Antonin Baudry, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy in the United States.Following the ceremony, a conversation between Richard Brody and the French film historian specialist of the New Wave and critic Antoine de Baecque, will be hosted at Albertine, the French reading room and bookshop tucked inside the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York.
The discussion called “Everything is Cinema” will center on French and American perspectives on New Wave filmmakers like Godard, Truffaut, Rohmer, and their heirs.Richard Brody grew up in NYC, and graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in Comparative Literature. He moved back to New York and worked in various capacities in the film business (including documentary researcher and producer) as well as in advertising, and was an independent filmmaker.
He wrote book reviews for the Forward beginning in 1996 and started writing for The New Yorker in 1999; among his publications there are articles about the directors François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Samuel Fuller, Wes Anderson, and Claude Lanzmann. Since 2005, he has been the movie listings editor at The New Yorker, where he writes film reviews and a blog on the magazine’s website. He is the author of Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard (Metropolitan Books, 2008).
He lives in New York with his wife and his daughters.The Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) was established in 1957 to recognize eminent artists and writers, as well as people who have contributed significantly to furthering the arts in France and throughout the world. The Order of Arts and Letters is given out under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Culture and Communication.
American recipients of the award include Paul Auster, Ornette Coleman, Agnes Gund, Marilyn Horne, Jim Jarmusch, Richard Meier, Robert Paxton, Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, and Uma Thurman.
About the conversation “Everything is Cinema"
December 15, 2014 – 7pm.
The event is free and open to the public.
More info: http://albertine.com/events/everything-is-cinema.
Albertine is located at 972 Fifth Avenue (at 79th Street).