Crime films, period dramas, science fiction, the war film, social realism, political satire and the swashbuckler are among the genres he tackled but there are common themes, threads and styles in his work and this talk will attempt to identify some of them, including a generous selection of clips. Tavernier despised labels and categories but we will attempt to identify the distinctive qualities of his cinema.

NB. Preceding this illustrated talk there will be a separate screening of Tavernier’s debut film ‘The Watchmaker of St Paul’ in the (Studio) at 12:30.