About Jean Mitry
Lived 1903 – 1988 (aged 84). Jean Mitry was a French film critic, film director, camera operator, cinematographer, director and screenwriter.
Jean-René Pierre Goetgheluck Le Rouge Tillard des Acres de Presfontaines, whose pseudonym was Jean Mitry (; 7 November 1904 – 18 January 1988), was a French film theorist, critic and filmmaker, a co-founder of France's first film society, and, in 1938, of the Cinémathèque Française.
Work Goetgheluck le Rouge Rillard des Acres de Presfontaines was born in Soissons and was the first lecturer of film aesthetics in France. Mitry was one of the first intellectuals responsible for taking film studies out of the era of the film club and into that of the university.
Mitry was one of few major film theorists who worked in film production himself. He edited Alexandre Astruc's short film Le Rideau Cramoisi (1953) and directed two films of his own, Pacific 231 (1949), set to Arthur Honegger's music, and Images pour Debussy (1952), set to the music of Claude Debussy.
He died in La Garenne-Colombes in 1988.
Selected filmography The Enigma of the Folies-Bergere (1959)
Works Introduction to film aesthetics (1960) Dictionary of cinema (1963) The Aesthetics and Psychology of the Cinema (1965) History of cinema, 5 volumes (1967–1980) Experimental Cinema: History and perspectives (1974) Semiotics and the Analysis of Film (new edition 2000)
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Important facts
People in Jean Mitry's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Jean Mitry's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Jean Mitry?
French film theorist (1903–1988)
When was Jean Mitry born?
Jean Mitry was born on 7 November 1903 in Soissons.
When did Jean Mitry die?
Jean Mitry died on 18 January 1988 in La Garenne-Colombes.
What was Jean Mitry's occupation?
Jean Mitry was a film critic, film director, camera operator, cinematographer, director and screenwriter.
What nationality was Jean Mitry?
Jean Mitry was French.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Jean Mitry. https://biography.guide/jean-mitry/
MLA: "Jean Mitry." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/jean-mitry/.
Chicago: "Jean Mitry." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/jean-mitry/.
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