Margaret Menegoz, the pioneering producer who was a central figure in France’s film industry during a career spanning decades, has died. She was 83.
The Hungarian-born German-French producer served as president of Les Films du Losange from 1975 until 2021, and was president of Unifrance from 2003 to 2008.
During a career that included a key role at the Cesar Academy, Menegoz produced films for directors such as Eric Rohmer, Barbet Schroeder, Wim Wenders, Andrzej Wajda, Agnieszka Holland and Michael Haneke, including the latter’s Palme d’Or-and Oscar-winning Amour in 2012.
After her tenure at Les Films du Losange ended, Menegoz handed over the reins to Charles Gillibert and Alexis Dantec, who currently run the Paris-based production, distribution and international sales house created by Schroeder and Rohmer.
The company issued a statement on Friday confirming that Menegoz died in Montpellier on August 7. Citing her “love of films and work, and her loyalty to her filmmakers that have become the hallmarks of Les Films du Losange”, they described her as “open-minded towards Europe and the international scene, which she particularly cherished”.
The statement quoted Menegoz as saying, “It takes years to build trust with an auteur, but you can lose it in a day. Everything is earned through hard work.”
The team added: “We will miss her beautiful, deep voice and unique accent terribly.”
Gillibert told Screen that Menegoz was “a producer and builder who transformed a production company into one of Europe’s most prestigious film studios, without ever compromising her principles of creative freedom and loyalty to authors”.
He said that Menegoz built upon “the utopia of Eric Rohmer and Barbet Schroeder” and opened the company “to other directors and to the world, made it grow […] at a time when female producers were almost non-existent in this industry.”
Gillibert added, “When it came time to sell the company three years ago, she asked me to keep production at the heart of the company, to be constantly concerned with promoting the films in the catalogue, and to continue working with her collaborators, allowing them to make their own decisions.”
Menegoz launched Les Films Du Losange’s distribution division in 1986 and international sales arm in 1999. In parallel to her time at that company, she also served as executive producer on Gaumont films during the 1980s, notching up credits on Wajda’s Danton, Mauro Bolognini’s The Lady Of The Camellias, and Volker Schlöndorff’s Swann In Love.
She produced Rohmer’s 1986 Venice Golden Lion winner The Green Ray and her vast filmography encompasses Wim Wenders’ The American Friend, Haneke’s Palme d’Or-winning The White Ribbon, and Agnieszka Holland’s Oscar-nominated Europa Europa.
Her last credit was as co-producer on Lionel Baier’s Continental Drift (South), which premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2022.
An officer of France’s prestigious Legion of Honour and member of BAFTA, Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences, and European Film Academy, Menegoz stepped in to preside over the Cesar Academy in 2020 following a major internal shake-up when the entire board of directors resigned en masse.
The César Academy said it plans to pay tribute to Menegoz at its upcoming ceremony on February 28, 2025, and called her an “iconic figure of French cinema” who played a “decisive role” when she took over as president.
Unifrance’s current managing director Daniela Elstner told Screen: “For Margaret, the national aspects of production melted into its international dimension. As president of Unifrance, she paved new paths that we still continue to build on today.”
Elstner cited Menegoz’s “respect for directors, her passionate and intense work, not only for Les films du Losange, but also for the general interest of independent production, distribution and sales”.
Speaking to Le Figaro newspaper in 2002, Menegoz said: “The basis of production is not money. It’s all about the script and the relationship with the director.”
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