Tim Burton at the Cinémathèque française, between 7 March until 5 August, 2012.

written by Michèle Folian. Translation Florence Le Provost.

Tim Burton invites himself at the Cinémathèque française, from 7 March to August 5. Designed in 2009 by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the exhibition recorded an unprecedented success at the Museum, before traveling to Melbourne, Toronto and Los Angeles. Paris will be the only European city to welcome this magnificent exhibition.

The exhibition is a tremendous event which is sure to give a host of magic moments to Tim Burton's admirers, but also to those who will discover the imaginary universe of this amazing filmmaker.

Visitors will indeed be able to watch or even re-watch his now legendary films (Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare before Christmas, Mars Attacks !, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland...) but also some of his short films still little known among the public.
A total of sixteen films will be shown during the exhibition period.

Corpse Bride Tim Burton on the set. © Derek Frey

With about 700 pieces on display, the exhibition will also offer the opportunity to discover not only the talents of Burton as a draftsman, painter, video director, photographer, inventor of amazing sculptures, but also the accessories, models and costumes from his movies, and more especially the ones used in Dark Shadow and Frankenweenie, scheduled to be released this year.

Tim Burton, Untitled (True Love). 1981-1983 Ink and marker on paper, Private Collection ©2011 Tim Burton

Tim Burton's drawings and paintings are mixtures of pop, Goth and Surrealism.
He enjoys subverting genres, and he declares : « I was making a drawing when all of a sudden, I said to myself : What difference does it make if I know how to draw or not ? What's important is that I like it. From that moment on, I didn't worry about trying to reproduce the human body or whether people cared for my drawings or not ».

Tim Burton,  Blue Girl with Wine , 1997 Oil on canvas, Private Collection © 2011 Tim Burton

The films of Tim Burton appeal to the child within us all, evoking enchantment, laughter, fun, joy and fear. Born in 1958, he is considered as the illegitimate son of Edgar Allen Poe and Walt Disney, and the collaboration with his fetish actor Johnny Depp, himself an eccentric character hovering between childhood and adulthood, does not fail to thrill audiences.


The Cinémathèque will also offer the filmmaker carte blanche to present his own selection of films (Dracula, Frankenstein, Repulsion, Eight and a Half...). A series of lectures and conferences as well as workshops for children will complete this tribute to the father of Jack Skellington.

Exposition Tim Burton à, la Ciné,mathè,que... par lacinematheque

Par Michèle Folian