Jacques Doniol-Valcroze (French: [ʒak dɔnjɔl valkʁoz]; 15 March 1920 – 6 October 1989) was a French actor, critic, screenwriter, and director. In 1951, Doniol-Valcroze was a co-founder of the renowned film magazine Cahiers du cinéma, along with André Bazin and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. The magazine was initially edited by Doniol-Valcroze between 1951–1957. As critic, he championed numerous filmmakers including Orson Welles, Howard Hawks, and Nicholas Ray.
In 1955, then 23-year-old François Truffaut made a short film in Doniol-Valcroze's apartment, Une Visite. Jacques's daughter Florence played a minor part in it.
In 1955, he was a member of the jury at the 16th Venice International Film Festival, and in 1964 a member of the jury at the 14th Berlin International Film Festival.
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New Wave
In his thirties he played a pivotal role in the French New Wave, discussing the beginnings of "the new cinema" as the co-founder of Cahiers du cinéma and defended Alain Robbe-Grillet. Jean Douchet wrote that no one had a better New Wave profile, but his work "was overshadowed by the immediate influence of the second generation" of New Wave directors: "His first feature film, l'Eau à la bouche (1960), arrived too late. Not strong enough to surprise, the film earned him only 'sympathetic' reviews. From then on ... criticism displayed a certain distance from the man. Wrongly, it seems."
In 1963 he appeared in L'Immortelle, an international co-produced drama art film directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet.
