Monday, October 28 6:30PM (28A1) ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS & SCIENCES 8949 Wilshire Boulevard Colbert Foundation Tribute To LOUIS MALLE Along with Godard, Truffaut and Chabrol, Louis Malle was one of the great innovators of the new French cinema. Throughout his career, Malle alternated between documentary and fiction. His list of acclaimed documentaries include THE FIRE WITHIN, his powerful study of the last 48 hours of a suicide; CALCUTTA, an astonishing look at modern India; and GOD'S COUNTRY, a film about the American heartland. It was, however, his feature films that truly established him as one of the world's great international directors. His early New Wave French films—ASCENSEUR POUR L'ECHAFAUD and others—stamped him as a director with a highly personal, lyrical and sensual style. After making LACOMBE, LUCIEN in France in 1974, Malle made his debut as an American director with 1977's PRETTY BABY, a lush film based on the Bellocq photographs of the New Orleans brothels. He continued his U.S. success in 1980 with ATLANTIC CITY, a bittersweet, ironic look at life on the boardwalk starring Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon. In 1981 he directed MY DINNER WITH ANDRE, a landmark film that observes the dinner-time conversation of two men. He returned to France to direct the autobiographical AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS, which swept the French Oscars. Malle also directed MAY FOOLS in France before resuming his international career with the British production of DAMAGE, which also became one of his most popular and critically acclaimed films. Louis Malle and American actress Candice Bergen were married in 1980. -Gary McVey, AFI Festival Director Founded in 1988, the Colbert Foundation seeks to promote Franco-American cooperation and good will through its educational programs. The Colbert Foundation is thrilled to honor Louis Malle with the Colbert Award for his outstanding career in filmmaking. His dedication to excellence and his strong influence in both the French and American film industries exemplify the efforts of the organization. LACOMBE, LUCIEN France 1974 DIR Louis Malle SCR Louis Malle, Patrick Modiani PH Tonino Delli Colli CAST Pierre Blaise, Aurore Clement, Therese Giehse, Holger Lowenadler. Color. 137 min. French w/English subtitles. A film hailed as among the first French features to openly discuss the issue of collaboration during WW II, LACOMBE, LUCIEN follows the story of a young farm boy who joins the Gestapo after being rejected by the French Resistance because of his youth. In the midst of exposing people to the Gestapo, however, he finds himself in love with a Jewish tailor's daughter. Unafraid to present the banality of Lucien's repellent actions, Louis Malle's "gamble is that the cameras will discover what the artist's imagination can't, and steadily, startlingly, the gamble pays off. Without ever mentioning the subject of innocence and guilt, this extraordinary film, in its calm, dispassionate way, addresses it on a very deep level." —Pauline Kael FILMOGRAPHY Le Monde du Silence (documentary, The Silent World, 1956), Ascenseur pour l'Echafaud (Elevator to the Gallows, 1957), Les Amants (The Lovers, 1958), Zazie dans le Metro (Zazie, 1960), Vie Privée (A Very Private Affair, 1961) Vive le Tour (documentary, 1962), Feu Follet (The Fire Within, 1963), Bons Baisers de Bangkok (documentary, 1964), Viva Maria (1965), Le Voleur (The Thief of Paris, 1966), Histoires Extraordinaires (1 episode: Spirits of The Dead, 1967), Calcutta (documentary, 1969), L'Inde Fantome (documentary, Phantom India, 1969), Le Souffle au Coeur, (Murmur of the Heart, 1970), Humain, Trop Humain (Human, Too Human, 1972), Place de la Republique (documentary, 1973), Lacombe, Lucien (1974), Black Moon (1975), Pretty Baby (1977), Atlantic City (1980), My Dinner With Andre (1980), Crackers (1984), Alamo Bay (PBS documentary, 1985), God's Country (PBS documentary, 1985), And the Pursuit of Happiness (HBO, 1986), Au Revoir les Enfants (Goodbye, Children, 1987), May Fools (1990), Damage (1992) CALENDAR | VENUES | TICKETS