Jean-Luc Godard gives Instagram live masterclass on ‘images in times of coronavirus’

Filmmaker discussed writing, memory, and his next project

Jean-Luc Godard giving a masterclass on Instagram live on 7 April 2020. (YouTube / P Ivo Carvalho)

Many artists have shared their knowledge and creativity from home during the coronavirus pandemic – including New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard.

The director shared his knowledge during a masterclass hosted live on Instagram by the École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL), an arts and design university located in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Godard tuned in on Tuesday for the event, hosted remotely by director Lionel Baier and themed “images in times of coronavirus”.

Smoking a cigar, the director shared his thoughts on a variety of topics, from the news cycle to language as a concept.

Writing also came up, with Godard saying, as quoted by Swiss newspaper Le Matin: “I write by hand if possible. Before, I used a typewriter, but I prefer writing by hand.

“Very often, I write in very small letters. Afterwards, I can’t read what I wrote. So I have to write it again. That’s already something.”

Godard, 89, also reflected on the topic of memory, saying that as he ages, he sometimes forgets words as well as short-term ideas – but said the situation hasn’t worried him at all.

Baier and Godard spoke for more than 90 minutes, at one point broaching the topic of Godard’s next project, a film inspired in part by the opera.

His most recent film, The Image Book, came out in 2018.

ECAL intends to make the entire 98-minute chat available in full online with English subtitles in the near future.