Françoise Bonnot

Who is Françoise Bonnot?

Françoise Bonnot is a French film editor with more than 40 feature film credits.

Bonnot is the daughter of Monique Bonnot, a film editor noted for several films directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. In her first film credit, Françoise Bonnot was the assistant to her mother on Melville's 1959 film, Two Men in Manhattan. She and her mother co-edited the 1962 film, A Monkey in Winter, that was directed by Henri Verneuil. At about this time Bonnot married Verneuil; she edited three more of his films in the 1960s. Bonnot edited Melville's 1969 film, Army of Shadows, when her mother became unavailable. This film is about the French resistance fighters during the Second World War, and was a departure from Melville's more characteristic crime and detective films. Bonnot later remarked that Melville “... had known me since I was eight years old. It was like working with my big brother. He was a character––fascinating, charming, fun and tyrannical.”

By 1968, Bonnot had commenced her notable collaboration with director Costa-Gavras that extended over eight films and nearly 30 years.