What can contemporary moviegoers learn and appreciate from Jean Seberg’s life and career?
Jean Seberg was the American girl in Paris, the symbol of the Free Spirit and part of the French New Wave which produced “Breathless,” a groundbreaking film that changed filmmaking forever. She hasn’t received the credit she is due for being part of that change, or for helping people in the film industry with their first film or granting seed money for a film project. Few “stars” do that. She was perhaps the first American-born actress in the sound era to work on several European productions without the comforts and constraints of the Hollywood system. She popularized the short hairstyle years before Mia Farrow (who gets credit for the style). She was sensitive and helped people in need. She could speak four languages, and dined with both presidents and revolutionaries. She was a unique and gifted performer. And for some very strange reason, she hasn’t been embraced in her birth country – let alone her home state – as she has around the world.
