Rebecca Zlotowski’s favourite films
 

PostED ON 15.10.2025

 « Jeanne Moreau inspired the filmmaker and the woman I am. »

© Sandrine Thesillat / Festival Lumière 2025

The King and the Mockingbird by Paul Grimault (1980)

This film represents my VHS film appreciation. Looking back, I believe this film marks the beginning of my awareness of class issues. When I saw it again, I realised how political the script was; this work contains a lot of social power! It deals with the total absence of freedom, the world below, and the need for strong dissent in society.

The Lovers by Louis Malle (1958)

The featured clip provides the easiest gateway to eroticism. It's after all the first cunnilingus scene in French cinema, featuring all the transgressive enjoyment of seeing the look of pleasure on Jeanne Moreau's face! I’m passionate about Louis Malle, he’s a brilliant auteur of the French New Wave. In fact, I even borrowed the title of my new film, A Private Life, from him. As for Jeanne Moreau, she inspired the filmmaker and the woman I am. 

The Collector by Éric Rohmer (1967)

In my film An Easy Girl, starring Zahia Dehar, I pay explicit and direct homage to filmmakers I admire. The main character in The Collector, played by Haydée Politoff, is a bit like the Zahia Dehar of 1967. The opening scene of An Easy Girl  is a nod to this work: we see Zahia in a cove in Cannes, then the title appears on her body. Rohmer's genius lies in filming all the obsessions of the body without taking anything away from the actresses. Haydée Politoff exudes incredible erotic power: I think all baby boomers were in love with her!! 

Foxes directed by Adrian Lyne (1980)

This is Adrian Lyne's first feature: I wish the opening scene was longer! With shots of Jodie Foster and Donna Summer's song On The Radio playing in the background! I think this film is the reason behind my fetish for Jodie Foster's feet! There's something about this piece that also captures the essence of 1970s LA. There's a dark side to this film, which tells the story of four young women negotiating their transition into adulthood.

Paparazzi by Jacques Rozier (1963)

This is a documentary about the filming of Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt: one of the first making-of films in French cinema. We immerse ourselves in this film with the voice of Michel Piccoli speaking in the second person; that voice has stayed with me my whole life. It's like a pre-credits sequence, almost like Cluedo, with this ominous voice. Godard was fascinated by Rozier. And Rozier approached Godard to describe the meeting between Brigitte Bardot and Michel Piccoli. 

Birth by Jonathan Glazer (2003)

It's one of Nicole Kidman's finest roles. The film's prologue is incredible: Jonathan Glazer's direction is so powerful, accompanied by Alexandre Desplat's wonderful soundtrack. In this scene, you sense that something is going to happen to this jogger in one of Central Park's tunnels. Then suddenly, the music stops and you hear the sound of snow. I’m so grateful to director Teddy Lussi-Modeste for showing me this film! There is also an incredible scene at the opera where Nicole Kidman's face reveals how her character is beginning to believe that the little boy is the reincarnation of her husband who passed away ten years earlier. And we all want to believe in an afterlife, that the dead will return! 

By Laura Lépine