Drift: Paule Delsol inside and outside the French New Wave

Abstract

Abstract This essay studies the long-overlooked French New Wave filmmaker Paule Delsol, focusing on her debut feature, La Dérive (Drift, 1962–1964). Using archival primary documents, the essay first examines her artistic emergence, her independent mode of production, her interactions with François Truffaut and her outlier status within the New Wave. Second, the essay examines the feminist design of La Dérive, its stylistic and temporal agitations, its considerations of female-centred domestic binds in 1960s France, versus better-known New Wave texts. Third, the essay contrasts La Dérive’s polarised reception, especially its censorship and distribution problems, with Delsol’s enfranchised status at Cahiers du cinéma, emphasising her many published contributions to the New Wave’s agenda.