One of the most iconic actresses associated with the French New Wave film movement, Anna Karina, has died at the age of 79. Karina’s agent confirmed the news on social media, noting the cause was cancer. As the muse of Jean-Luc Godard (who would later become her first husband), Karina starred in several of his seminal films throughout the 1960s, including The Little Soldier, A Woman Is a Woman, Vivre sa vie, Band of Outsiders, and Pierrot le fou. (Her arsenal of other directors also includes these greats: Jacques Rivette, Tony Richardson, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Luchino Visconti.) When the New Wave period dissipated in the late 1960s, Karina would continue to thrive in French cinema and star in dozens of other films, in addition to maintaining an active career as a writer, recording artist, and director. Karina’s final movie, 2008’s Victoria, was penned by her.
