What is the best thing that I love about my work? I love to search, discover, and make people discover and recognize extraordinary people of yesterday and today, especially women. Each discovery is for me a revelation, a new window on the world and on history. And the best fight against injustice that I can lead.
What is my idea of happiness? I am a fundamentally happy person. But my happiness is even stronger when it is based on curiosity and sharing. From this comes enthusiasm, a source of daily happiness.
Photo credit: Sylvie Castioni
What is my greatest fear? To never fall in love again, to never feel strong emotions.
What is the trait that I most deplore in myself? My difficulty to protect myself from others, from my doubts and from myself.
Which living persons in my profession do I most admire? All those who manage to motivate others to make things happen, who don’t stand still, who invent, move, surpass themselves, question themselves and innovate.
What is my greatest extravagance? To travel everywhere all the time.
On what occasion would I lie? I don’t like to lie. If I do, it’s only by omission and not to hurt someone.
What is the thing that I dislike the most in my work? Not to be recognized and paid for my commitment, the quantity and quality of my work and the originality of my approach.
When and where was I the happiest, in my work? Every time I was given responsibilities and challenges that matched my ambitions. For example, when I was the editor of the film magazine Première.
If I could, what would I change about myself? Lose weight, be more convincing and better organized.
What is my greatest achievement in work? The creation of the Alice Guy Award and all that I have done to make Alice Guy known and recognize as the pioneer of cinema, so that she regains her place in history. And the three, soon to be four, books I have written.
Photo credit: Sylvie Castioni
Where would I most like to live? I like to live in the center of Paris where I live, but I would also love to live in a big city by the sea: in New York, in Los Angeles, in Lisbon, in Barcelona, in Miami, in San Sebastian, in Rio or in Marseille, for example.
What is my most treasured possession? Even if they are not a possession but what I care about the most: my children of course and my friends.
What is my most marked characteristic? Loyalty, curiosity and generosity.
What is my most inspirational location, in my city? Walking in the streets of central Paris, especially in spring or in the evening after dinner. Especially in the Marais or on the banks of the Seine.
What is my favorite place to eat and drink, in my city? It depends on my mood of the day but I like to eat or drink a coffee on a terrace and to have a drink on a roof top, in the open air.
What books influenced my life and how? All the novels of Alexandre Dumas father and son, in particular The Count of Monte Cristo, Queen Margot and The Lady of Camellias, for the breath of adventure, their fight against all forms of injustice and the power of the novelistic narrative.
The memoirs of Alice Guy-Blaché : discovering her life, so romantic and so powerful, changed mine.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, for the power of a heroine who decides to live her life as she wishes in a difficult and changing political context.
Brazen : rebel ladies who rocked the world by Penelope Bagieu, for her humorous gallery of powerful, combative female figures who have managed to change their world, the world.
The Good Women in China by Xin Ran, for these portraits of women, all heroines of everyday life.
Des hommes justes by Ivon Jablonka, a remarkable critical history of male domination.
The diary of Anne Frank, heroine of my adolescence.
You Only Die Once. What music would I listen on my last day? The melodies of Fauré and Maria Callas in Bizet’s Carmen.
Who is my hero or heroine in fiction? Carmen (by Mérimée and by Bizet), Wonderwoman, Lizzy in The Story of my wife by Ildiko Enyedi.
Who are my heroes and heroines in real life? Women, and in particular mothers. Alice Guy first, also Delphine Seyrig and Carole Roussopoulos.
Which movie would I recommend to see once in a lifetime?
Deutschland, bleiche Mutter by Helma Sanders Brahms
The Cabbage Fairy, Madame has her cravings or The Ocean Waif by Alice Guy
We need to talk about Kevin de Lynne Ramsay
The story of my life by Ildiko Enyedi.
What role play stories in my life and work? This is the core of all my work: I spend my life looking for extraordinary stories, watching them in the cinema and relaying the most interesting ones.
What do the words ‘You are the storyteller of your own life’ to me? That you should always choose your life, no matter what it costs you.
Who is my greatest fan, sponsor, partner in crime? My daughter and my son.
Which people or companies would I like to work with in 2022? The list is open and endless. I would like to write for media outlets around the world and/or production companies that are looking for original and engaging projects, mostly about women. I would also like to find companies and partners or advisors who can help me finance the development of the Alice Guy Award in France and around the world. Patrons who are sensitive to my work and to the way I conceive.
What project, in 2022, am I looking forward to work on? On the next ones… I would like to write a film and/or a novel while continuing to develop the Alice Guy Award and the valorization of women’s work in cinema.
Where can you see me or my work in 2022? The 5th Alice Guy Award will be presented on April 8, 2022 at the Max Linder in Paris. My next book on ecology and cinema will be released in France in the fall of 2022.
My books :
100 grands films de réalisatrices
What do the words “Passion Never Retires” mean to me? The sincerity of the approach, the authenticity of the choices last a lifetime and… beyond.
Which creative professionals should Peter invite to tell their story?
Béatrice Thiriet, film music composer
Julia and Clara Kuperberg, who tell the story of Hollywood in fascinating films
Marianne Slot, great film producer
Gabrielle Keng, author, director, outstanding cook and woman of many talents
Sylvie Castioni, photographer
Margot Abascal, actress and director
Flonja Kodheli, pianist, actress and director
Nathalie Azoulai, writer
Anne Guimet, general delegate of the Lumières Award
Nathalie Dyke, who left everything to write her first novel
How can you contact me?
Easily under Cine-Woman or under my name
Also on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter, under my name or Cine-Woman
To contact me as Véronique Le Bris
my insta
my linkedin
as Prix Alice Guy
The Heroine's Journey 