Jean-Marie Straub (French: [stÊ ob]; born 8 January 1933) and Danièle
Huillet (pronounced [É¥ijÉ›]; 1 May 1936 â€" 9 October 2006) were a
duo of French filmmakers who made two dozen films between 1963 and
2006. Their films are noted for their rigorous, intellectually
stimulating style and radical, communist politics. Though both were
French, they worked mostly in Germany and Italy. From the Clouds to
the Resistance (1979) and Sicilia! (1999) are among the duo's best
regarded works.Straub, who was born in Metz, met Paris-born Huillet as
a student in 1954. Straub was involved in the Parisian cinephile
community at the time. He was friends with Francois Truffaut and
contributed to his publication Cahiers du Cinéma, although Truffaut
refused to publish Straub's more inflammatory writings. He worked as
an assistant to the film director Jacques Rivette on the 1956 film A
Fool's Mate. The pair later emigrated to Germany so that Straub could
avoid military service in Algeria. In 1963, they made Machorka-Muff,
an 18-minute short based on a Heinrich Böll story and their first
collaboration. Their next film, the 55-minute Not Reconciled, was also
a Böll adaptation.They did not make a full-length feature until
1968's Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, after which they made films
at a fairly even rate, completing a feature every 2â€"3 years. In
1968, they also made a short film starring Rainer Werner Fassbinder
and his theatre troupe called The Bridegroom, the Actress and the
Pimp. In the mid 1970s, they began producing films in Italy.
Increasingly, they began splitting their time between Germany and
Italy, as well as frequently collaborating with French and British
producers.Straub and Huillet lived together for most of their lives.
They had no children. Huillet died of cancer in Cholet on 9 October
2006, aged 70.
Huillet (pronounced [É¥ijÉ›]; 1 May 1936 â€" 9 October 2006) were a
duo of French filmmakers who made two dozen films between 1963 and
2006. Their films are noted for their rigorous, intellectually
stimulating style and radical, communist politics. Though both were
French, they worked mostly in Germany and Italy. From the Clouds to
the Resistance (1979) and Sicilia! (1999) are among the duo's best
regarded works.Straub, who was born in Metz, met Paris-born Huillet as
a student in 1954. Straub was involved in the Parisian cinephile
community at the time. He was friends with Francois Truffaut and
contributed to his publication Cahiers du Cinéma, although Truffaut
refused to publish Straub's more inflammatory writings. He worked as
an assistant to the film director Jacques Rivette on the 1956 film A
Fool's Mate. The pair later emigrated to Germany so that Straub could
avoid military service in Algeria. In 1963, they made Machorka-Muff,
an 18-minute short based on a Heinrich Böll story and their first
collaboration. Their next film, the 55-minute Not Reconciled, was also
a Böll adaptation.They did not make a full-length feature until
1968's Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, after which they made films
at a fairly even rate, completing a feature every 2â€"3 years. In
1968, they also made a short film starring Rainer Werner Fassbinder
and his theatre troupe called The Bridegroom, the Actress and the
Pimp. In the mid 1970s, they began producing films in Italy.
Increasingly, they began splitting their time between Germany and
Italy, as well as frequently collaborating with French and British
producers.Straub and Huillet lived together for most of their lives.
They had no children. Huillet died of cancer in Cholet on 9 October
2006, aged 70.
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