Mag Bodard (3 January 1916 – 26 February 2019) was an Italian-born French film producer, known for ''

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' () is a 1964 musical romantic drama film written and directed by Jacques Demy, with music by Michel Legrand. Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo star as two young lovers in the French city of Cherbourg, separate ...

'', '' Donkey Skin'', and ''

The Young Girls of Rochefort ''The Young Girls of Rochefort'' () is a 1967 French musical comedy film written and directed by Jacques Demy. The ensemble cast is headlined by real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac, and features George Chakiris, Michel Pic ...

''.

Life

Bodard was born in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

as Margherita Maria Renata Perato. She worked as a journalist for women's magazine ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'' before going into film producing. In 1962, she married the reporter

Lucien Bodard Lucien Bodard (9 January 1914 – 2 March 1998) was a Republic of China (1912–1949), Chinese-French China, born France, French reporter, and writer on events in East and Southeast Asia, such as First Indochina War, the Indochinese nations becom ...

, whom she had met in southeast Asia, and the two subsequently moved to Paris. Through his contacts she became an editor for the newspaper ''

France-Soir ''France Soir'' () was a French newspaper that prospered in physical format during the 1950s and 1960s, reaching a circulation of 1.5 million in the 1950s. It declined rapidly under various owners and was relaunched as a populist tabloid in 2006 ...

,'' where she began an affair with its owner

Pierre Lazareff Pierre Lazareff (1907–1972) was a French newspaper editor and publisher. He was the son of a Russian Jewish emigrant, David Lazareff, and an Alsatian Jew, Marthe Helft. He was passionate about newspapers from his childhood, even running a fam ...

. Bodard's first film was '' The Dance'' (1962). Two years later, she produced the musical ''

'', which won the

Palm d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. The film was also nominated for five

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

s, a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

, and a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

. Bodard would go on to produce several dozen more films and worked with renowned directors such as

Agnès Varda Agnès Varda (; born Arlette Varda; 30 May 1928 – 29 March 2019) was a Belgian-born French film director, screenwriter and photographer. Varda's work employed location shooting in an era when the limitations of sound technology made it easier ...

on Le Bonheur, Jean-Luc Goddard on ''

2 or 3 Things I Know About Her ''Two or Three Things I Know About Her'' () is a 1967 French New Wave film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard, one of three features he completed that year. As with the other two (''La Chinoise'' and ''Weekend (1967 film), Weekend''), it is ...

'' and ''

La Chinoise ''La Chinoise, ou plutôt à la Chinoise: un film en train de se faire'' (), commonly referred to simply as ''La Chinoise'', is a 1967 French political docufiction film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard about a group of young Maoist activis ...

'', Robert Bresson on ''

Au hasard Balthazar ''Au hasard Balthazar'' (; meaning "Balthazar, at Random"), also known as ''Balthazar'', is a 1966 tragedy film directed by Robert Bresson. Believed to be inspired by a passage from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 1868–69 novel ''The Idiot'', the film foll ...

'' and ''

A Gentle Woman ''A Gentle Woman'' (), also titled ''A Gentle Creature'', is a 1969 French drama film directed by Robert Bresson. It was Bresson's first film in colour and adapted from Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1876 short story " A Gentle Creature", moving the setting ...

,'' and

Alain Resnais Alain Resnais (; 3 June 19221 March 2014) was a French film director and screenwriter whose career extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct short films including '' Night and Fog ...

on ''

Je t'aime, je t'aime ''Je t'aime, je t'aime'' ("I Love You, I Love You") is a 1968 French science fiction film directed by Alain Resnais from a screenplay by Jacques Sternberg. The plot centres on Claude Ridder (Claude Rich) who is asked to participate in a mysteri ...

''. She promoted the careers of directors such as

Maurice Pialat Maurice Pialat (; 31 August 1925 – 11 January 2003) was a French film director, screenwriter and actor known for the rigorous and unsentimental style of his films. His work is often described as " realist",

, Nina Companeez, and

Claude Miller Claude Miller (20 February 1942 – 4 April 2012) was a French film director, producer and screenwriter. Life and career Claude Miller was born to a Jewish family. A student at Paris' IDHEC film school from 1962 through 1963, Miller had his f ...

. She opened her own production company Parc Films, which ran from 1963 to 1972, and was supported by Lazareff. The company was dissolved after Lazareff died. In 1977, she shifted from cinema to television. She produced her last television film, ''Inconnue de la départementale'', in 2006 at the age of ninety. In 2005, a documentary about her life, ''Mag Bodard, un destin'', was directed by

Anne Wiazemsky Anne Wiazemsky (14 May 1947 – 5 October 2017) was a French actress and novelist. She made her cinema debut at the age of 18, playing Marie, the lead character in Robert Bresson's '' Au hasard Balthazar'' (1966). A year later she married the di ...

. She celebrated her hundredth birthday in 2016. She died in

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...

at the age of 103.

Selected filmography

* 1962: '' The Dance'' * 1964: ''

'' * 1965: ''

Happiness Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...

'' * 1966: ''

'' * 1967: ''

Two or Three Things I Know About Her ''Two or Three Things I Know About Her'' () is a 1967 French New Wave film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard, one of three features he completed that year. As with the other two ('' La Chinoise'' and ''Weekend''), it is considered both soc ...

'' * 1967: ''

'' * 1968: ''

Benjamin Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...

'' * 1968: ''

'' * 1969: ''

'' * 1970: '' La maison des Bories'' * 1970: '' Donkey Skin'' * 1979: ''Les Dames de la côte'' (TV miniseries) * 1989: ''La Grande Cabriole'' (TV miniseries) * 2006: ''Inconnue de la départementale''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bodard, Mag 1916 births 2019 deaths French women centenarians French film producers French women film producers Italian emigrants to France Film people from Turin French television producers French women television producers