Cecile Lagesse

Cécile Lagesse was born in Mauritius and raised in France, where she received a BA and MA in Chinese from the National Institute of Languages and Civilizations and a BA and MA in film at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.  In 2003, she was editor-in-chief of the online art magazine Arsinica and wrote on Chinese contemporary artists visiting Paris.  She had a particular interest in the works of film director Jia Zhang-ke, whom she has since personally interviewed and written about academically.  Her most recent article, “Jia Zhang-ke’s Still Life: Realism in the Age of the Digital” was published in the December 2008 issue of Cahiers du Cinéma.  Cécile studied at the Beijing Film Academy in 2005 and entered the Combined PhD program in Film Studies and East Asian Languages and Literatures in 2007.   She has a zealous interest in film theory – specifically issues of realism, representation, technology, and political critique – and is currently focusing on contemporary Chinese independent films.  In her spare time, Cecile enjoys frequenting local restaurants.