Céline Sciamma

Biography

Céline Sciamma is a French screenwriter and film director. Sciamma's work is strikingly minimalist. She is known for her transformational work with themes of gender fluidity, sexual identity among girls and women, and the female gaze. Sciamma's considers her first three feature films, Water Lilies (2007), Tomboy (2011) and Girlhood (2014) to constitute a coming-of-age trilogy. Her 2019 film, Portait of a Lady on Fire, won her the Queer Palm and Best Screenplay at 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The film was widely acclaimed and was also named the 30th greatest film of all time in the Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll. She has written screenplays for André Téchiné and Claude Barras, the latter of which won her the Best Adapted Screenplay at the 42nd César Awards. Sciamma is also an activist and a founding member of the 50/50 collective, an advocacy association that promotes gender parity, diversity, and inclusion in the film and audiovisual industry.