Claire Simon

Born in London in 1955, Caire Simon is a French scriptwriter, actress, cinematographer,editor and director. As a filmmaker she first directs independent shorts. Her best remembered films of the period are "La police" (1988) and "Scènes de ménage" in 1991, starring Miou-Miou. She then discovers the practice of 'direct cinema' with the Ateliers Varan and makes several documentaries such as "Les patients" (1989), At All Costs (1995) and Récréations (1998), which garner multiple awards. Her first fiction feature length movie, A Foreign Body (1997), the story of a woman who pretends to be pregnant and kidnaps a child, is presented at the Cannes Film Festival Directors'Fortnight in 1997. Her next film, made for TV, That's Just Like You (2000), an original work, half-documentary, half-fiction, filmed within the walls of the European Parliament, is awarded the great prize at the Belfort Film Festival. After an experience in the theater, Claire Simon returns to documentary with 800 km de différence - Romance (2002) and Mimi (2003), presented at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2003. Her second fiction film, On Fire (2006) was also selected for the Directors'Fortnight in 2006. In 2008, God's Offices (2008) is another half-fiction half-documentary work, with famous actors and actresses as the Family Planning counselors and amateur actresses impersonating real-life women who had come for help or guidance. An atypical talent in the French movie world, Claire Simon has been trying for more than two decades to this day - ceaselessly and successfully - to capture the essence of reality.