Jean-Luc Godard celebrates 70th birthday

Jean-Luc Godard is 70 on Sunday. Keystone

Switzerland's most prolific filmmaker, Jean-Luc Godard, turns 70 on Sunday, but he says he won't be doing much celebrating. He intends to spend the day working on his next film.

Godard said his birthday is nothing to get excited about, and denied that he even had a party planned. He said he was too preoccupied with his next film “Eloge de l’amour”, which is due to be released next year.

Godard was born in Paris to a Swiss father, who was a doctor in Nyon, and a French mother, who was the daughter of a banker. He spent his childhood on the shores of Lake Geneva, and had a sheltered, strictly Protestant upbringing.

At the age of 21, he began studying in ethnology at the Sorbonne University in Paris. However, he was more attracted by Parisian film clubs.

His film, “A bout de souffle” was released in 1959, and became an overnight success, winning his the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin film festival.

The artist’s most important works are commonly thought to be “Une femme est une femme”, Vivre sa vie” and “Pierrot le fou”. All have Godard’s former partner, the Danish actor Anna Karina, in the leading role.

Godard’s next project, a documentary entitled “Notre Musique”, is ready for filming. It retraces the life of Manfred Eicher, the creator of the German ECM record company, with whom Godard has worked extensively.

swissinfo with agencies