He has taken on Flaubert and Shakespeare and the lives of Danton and Van Gogh, an ancient epic Sanskrit poem and the Biblical word of God. Over more than 65 years—and counting—Jean-Claude Carrière has written nearly 150 screenplays in collaboration with some of postwar cinema’s most iconoclastic filmmakers, among them Luis Buñuel (six late-period masterworks, including Belle de Jour), Louis Malle (The Thief of Paris and May Fools), Milos Forman (The Nail Clippers, Taking Off, and Valmont), Jean-Luc Godard (Every Man for Himself), Andrzej Wajda (Danton), Nagisa Oshima (Max Mon Amour), Peter Brook (The Mahabharata and La tragédie de Carmen), and Jonathan Glazer (Birth). He is also a novelist, librettist, and cultural thinker, and the only non-US screenwriter to receive lifetime achievement awards from the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Writers Guild.

Carrière makes a rare New York appearance during the opening weekend of this unprecedented 37-film retrospective, taking part in conversations with Julian Schnabel (At Eternity’s Gate) and Volker Schlondorff (Circle of Deceit and The Tin Drum). The series also features a preview screening of his latest screenwriting effort, Louis Garrel’s A Faithful Man, as well as the New York premieres of new 4K digital restorations of Philip Kaufman’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s Cyrano de Bergerac. Rarities include Carrière’s own directorial efforts, along with several underappreciated French television movies he wrote in the 1970s and ’80s, starring Delphine Seyrig, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Bulle Ogier, and even the filmmaker himself.

Organized by Joshua Siegel, Curator, and Olivia Priedite, Assistant, Department of Film. 

Support for the exhibition is provided by the Annual Film Fund. Leadership support for the Annual Film Fund is provided by the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation and Steven Tisch, with major contributions from Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), Yuval Brisker Charitable Foundation, The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston, Marlene Hess and James D. Zirin, Karen and Gary Winnick, and The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art.

Belle de Jour. 1967. France/Italy. Directed by Luis Buñuel.

At Eternity’s Gate. 2018. USA/UK/France. Directed by Julian Schnabel. Courtesy CBS Films

Birth. 2004. United Kingdom, France, Germany, USA. Directed by Jonathan Glazer. Courtesy New Line/Photofest

Die Fälschung (Circle of Deceit). 1981. West Germany/France. Directed by Volker Schlöndorff. Courtesy United Artists/Photofest.

Cyrano de Bergerac. 1990. France/Hungary. Directed by Jean-Paul Rappenneau. Courtesy  Orion Classics/Photofest.

Danton. 1983. France/Poland/West Germany. Directed by Andrzej Wajda. Courtesy Janus Films

Diary of a Chambermaid. 1964. France. Directed by Luis  Buñuel. Courtesy International Classics/Photofest

Sauve qui peut (la vie) (Every Man for Himself). 1980. France/Austria/West Germany/Switzerland. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Courtesy New Yorker Films/Photofest.

Max mon amour (Max My Love). 1986. France/USA/Japan. Directed by Oshima Nagisa

Milou en mai (May Fools). 1990. France/Italy. Directed by Louis Malle. Courtesy Orion Classics/Photofest.

Cet obscur objet du désir (That Obscure Object of Desire). 1977. France/Spain. Directed by Luis Buñuel. Courtesy First Artists/Photofest.

Le Fantôme de la liberté (The Phantom of Liberty). 1974. France/Italy. Directed by Luis Buñuel. Courtesy Criterion Collection/Photofest.

La Piscine (The Swimming Pool). 1968. France/Italy. Directed by Jacques Deray. Courtesy AVCO Embassy Pictures/Photofest

Taking Off. 1971. USA. Directed by Miloš Forman. Courtesy Universal Pictures.

La voie lactée (The Milky Way). 1969. France/West Germany/Italy. Directed by Luis Buñuel. Courtesy Universal Marion Corporation (UMC Pictures)/Photofest.

Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum). 1979. West Germany/Yugoslavia/Poland/France. Directed by Volker Schlöndorff. Courtesy Janus Films

The Unbearable Lightness of Being. 1988. USA. Directed by Philip Kaufman. Courtesy Orion Pictures/Photofest.

Valmont. 1989. USA/France. Directed by Miloš Forman. Courtesy Orion Pictures Corporation/Photofest.

Le voleur (The Thief of Paris). 1967. France. Directed by Louis Malle. Courtesy Lopert Pictures Corporation/Photofest

Yoyo. 1965. France. Directed by Pierre Étaix. Courtesy Magna/Photofest