Francois Truffaut

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Francois Truffaut in conversation in 1977 with Richard Roud, then Director of the New York Film Festival. Truffaut, director of "Jules and Jim," "The Four Hundred Blows," " Bed and Board," "The Story of Adele H.," etc. was in America for the premier of "The Man Who Loved Women" at the 15th New York Film Festival. It was Truffaut's first US television appearance. The conversation is in French, with voice-over translations. A French-only version also exists. Mr. Roud gives a brief biography of Truffaut and his career. This footage includes clips from several Truffaut films, including his first, "Les Miston" ("The Mischief Makers", 1958.) The film director speaks of his childhood, the moral challenge of World War Two, the real meaning of the "auteur theory", how the conservative French film industry was forced to change, Truffaut as a "culture hero" in the US, making a film that is as personal as a novel, the difference between French and American approaches to cinema, individual films seen in the totality of one's work, gaining understanding and sympathy for a character in a film, Alfred Hitchcock's relationship to his characters, plot and story-telling, and many other themes.