Freddy Buache
Freddy Buache (1924-2019) was a Swiss writer, critic and film historian. In 1950, he co-founded the Cinémathèque Suisse. He directed the institution from 1951 to 1996. Buache wrote essays, poetry and numerous publications on cinema, including books on Luis Buñuel, the Nouvelle Vague and, most of all, national cinemas: Swiss, German, Italian and English cinema, two parts on French film in the 1960s and 70s, and three chronological volumes on American cinema. His lifelong friendship with Jean-Luc Godard resulted in an exchange of film letters, Godard’s Lettre à Freddy Buache (1986), which was followed by a film Buache provided the voice-over for: Lettre à Jean-Luc Godard (Annie Aubergier, Nicolas Costanzo, Pierric Favret & Sarah Richit, 2007), a collaborative project with four filmmakers of a younger generation. In 2012, Fabrice Aragno, who works with Jean-Luc Godard, compiled Freddy Buache, le cinéma, showcasing a day in the life of the director of the Cinémathèque.