STARS AT NOON

A young American journalist stranded in present-day Nicaragua falls for an enigmatic Englishman who seems like her best chance of escape. She soon realizes, though, that he may be in even greater danger than she is.

CLAIRE DENIS

Claire Denis (Paris, 1948) is a director and screenwriter. Denis is regarded as one of France’s most important filmmakers and famed for her artful confrontations with themes such as colonialism and оtherness. She grew up in Africa until she was 12. Back in France, Denis studied at the IDHEC - L’Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (now La Femis). She began working in cinema as assistant to major directors such as Dušan Makavejev (Sweet Movie, 1974), Costa-Gavras (Hanna K., 1983), Wim Wenders (Paris, Texas, 1984; Wings of Desire, 1987), Jim Jarmusch (Down by Law, 1986). Her feature debut Chocolat (1988) premiered in Cannes. Since then, Denis has directed shorts, documentaries and other feature films including Nénette et Boni (1996), won Golden Leopard at Locarno IFF, Beau travail (1999), won Jury Special Mention at Berlinale and Special Mention at Rotterdam IFF, and 35 Shots of Rum (2008). High Life (2018), premiered in Toronto and won the FIPRESCI Prize in San Sebastian. For Stars at Noon (2022), she won the ex-equo Grand Prize of the Caness Film Festival with Close by Lukas Dhont. Denis has co-written the majority of her films with Jean-Pol Fargeau.

Reveiws:

Like so many of Denis’ films, the incandescent Stars at Noon is cut with such jagged atemporality that it often seems set in a space between time, where the past never happened and the future may never come.

David Ehrlich, IndieWire