Danièle Huillet

- in memoriam -

[photos from: Nicht versöhnt (Not Reconciled, 1965) and On the Lethargy of Perception (1981)]

"The most interesting thing about me is my date of birth; 1 May 1936. After the second diploma I went once to the Sorbonne and ran out again after a half hour, in hatred and terror. Then I prepared for the I.D.H.E.C. - and met Straub in the process. I wanted to make documentaries - ethnographic films. Also: I didn't like blond people with light skin at all; when I was small, I found nothing more beautiful than the girls at school in Paris (where I came only at age 13—before, I was in the country), who were dark. . . . But Straub simply was blond with very light skin, unfortunately! I had learned English and Spanish and then had to learn first German and finally Italian . . . quite dialectical."
- Danièle Huillet, 1976

I only saw Pedro Costa's and Thierry Lounas' Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie? (2001) just a few days ago and was particularly touched by the following segment, from 6 Bagatelas, composed from the unused reels of Where Does.... Unlike most of the film which occurs within the intense atmosphere of the editing room, we get to see Huillet out in the light, calm as ever: