Jean Seberg

Remembering Jean Seberg on her 85th Birthday

Jean Dorothy Seberg was born on Sunday, November 13, 1938 at 5:15 in the morning in Marshalltown, Iowa.

She declared at a young age, "I'm going to grow up and be a movie star." She did that and so much more.

She advocated for animals, was a Red Feather Kid (a United Way campaign), was the first teenage chairman of the Iowa March of Dimes campaign, joined the NAACP at age 14, and was selected for Girls' State and was sent to Washington, D.C. where she was voted All-Round Girls Stater.

She was a daughter. Sister. Wife. Mother. Friend.

She matured on the big screen, spoke four languages, and starred in 38 Hollywood and International films during her twenty-two year film career. She gave money to causes close to her heart and to those in need, and supported the fight against racism during her short lifetime.

She was Loved. Hated. Admired. Exploited. Respected. Neutralized. Idolized.

We celebrate Jean's life and her legacy today on her 85th birthday and always. Jean Seberg: Actress. Activist. Icon.

The Emmy award-winning documentary "Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon" will be released nationally on Blu ray and via streaming in early 2024. Over ten years in the making, the film was produced by award-winning filmmaker Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and award-winning filmmakers Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films).

Visit JeanSebergMovie.com for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, and all things Jean Seberg.

For more on Jean Seberg read Garry McGee's books via Amazon.com: Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith).

Augustana's Film Symposium features Award-winning "Jean Seberg" Documentary and 'Talk Back'

“Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon,” winner of a Mid-America Emmy® Award will be showcased at Augustana College's Film Symposium on Wednesday, October 11th 1:45-4:00 p.m. in the Olin Auditorium. The event is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. The feature-length documentary was produced by Quad Cities filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, and Garry McGee of McMarr, LTD. A Q&A led by Augustana Film Department director Stacy Barton will feature the Rundles and Dr. Jane Simonsen, professor of history, who appears in the film. 

“We believe the documentary affirms the amazing life and enduring legacy of Jean, an Iowa daughter, a caring humanitarian, and an American and international movie star,” said producer Kelly Rundle. "We are honored to be invited to show and discuss the film at this special film symposium."

Selected from 18,000 aspiring actresses world-wide at age 17, Seberg debuted in Otto Preminger’s 1957 "Saint Joan" and starred in Hollywood films “Lilith,” “The Mouse that Roared” and the blockbuster “Airport,” among others. She is best known for her performance in the groundbreaking French New Wave film “Breathless.”

Seberg’s civil rights activism and her financial support for the Black Panther Party made her a target of the FBI's COINTELPRO. The actress died in mysterious circumstances in Paris at age 40, and her family blamed FBI harassment.

Dr. Simonsen did an in-depth on-camera interview for the film focused on Seberg’s activism.

“Jean Seberg just stepped right into the middle of so many conflicts at that time — conflicts about race, about sexuality, about communism, about politics, about women’s political involvement. And, that seems to be what got her: Seemingly, the wide belief that she overstepped her bounds in some way.”

The documentary features never-before-seen private photographs, and home movie footage. It is the first documentary film to focus on the private side of the international movie star, combining exclusive interviews with Seberg’s family, according to Fourth Wall Films. "Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon" will be released on Blu ray and via streaming in early 2023.

Produced by filmmaker Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and filmmakers Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films), The Emmy-winning Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979. The documentary is in the distribution phase.

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release in early 2023.

For more on Jean Seberg read Garry McGee's books: Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith). 

Jean Seberg's Director and Friend Nicolas Gessner Dies

Diamonds Are Brittle Director Nicolas Gessner (right) with Jean Seberg and Claude Rich (1964).

By Garry McGee
Filmmaker/Author

 

A director who Jean Seberg helped by starring in his first feature film has died. Nicolas Gessner, who directed Seberg in 1965's Diamonds Are Brittle (also known as A Billion in a Billiard) passed away on August 22, 2023.

The Swiss/Hungarian filmmaker worked, like Seberg, in Hollywood and Europe, alongside many internationally renowned personalities and directing A Billion in a Billiards (1965) with Seberg and Claude Rich, The Blonde From Peking (1967) with Mireille Darc and Edward G. Robinson, The Thirteen Chairs (aka 2+1) (1969) with Sharon Tate and Orson Welles, Someone Behind the Door (1971) with Charles Bronson and Anthony Perkins, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976) with Jodie Foster and Marin Sheen, It Rained All Night the Day I Left (1980) with Tony Curtis and Louis Gossett Jr., Sleight of Hand (1989) with Ben Gazzara, Mary Crosby and Jean Yanne, and Tennessee Nights (1989) with Julian Sands, Stacey Dash and Ned Beatty among many film and television works.

 

When I met Nicolas in Paris, he suggested we do so at, I believe, the Savoy in Paris. As we had not seen each other (before the internet truly exploded), he described himself as "an old college professor". I told him I'd been told I resembled Dennis Berry (Seberg's husband). I arrived to the spacious bar at the hotel, and after looking around, went to a man fitting the description. It was not Nicolas. I excused myself and sat at a table by a window so I could see the entire area. I saw a man walk in who proceeded to ask another patron a question. He was waved off, and proceeded to look over the area. I cautiously proceeded to him and asked, "Nicolas Gessner?" He responded in the affirmative, and confirmed I was who he was to meet. We had a laugh over how we interpreted our descriptions of each other, and that was the beginning of a respectful friendship that lasted for many years.

 

After Diamonds Are Brittle, Gessner looked forward to working with Seberg again but it was not meant to be. He attempted to employ her in his film Someone Behind the Door, but depsite having contractual authority on casting the lead actress, star Charles Bronson vetoed and cast his wife, Jill Ireland. Regardless, the two remained friends until Seberg's death in 1979.  "She was a 'name'. When you saw the words 'Jean Seberg', that meant something. A quality," he told me.

 

Gessner last saw Seberg shortly before her death in 1979, and his memories of her remained fresh for decades thereafter. He was always grateful for her giving him his start in the industry, and he felt fortunate being able to work in an industry he truly loved.

 

“I would say that we do the most beautiful, most varied, most creative job because with each film, we create a new universe,” Nicolas Gessner recently said in regard to his work as a filmmaker.

 

Nicolas Gessner is among many who are featured in the Emmy award-winning documentary film "Jean Seberg: Actress. Activist. Icon". Visit jeansebergmovie.com for more information and follow us on Facebook.

 

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Produced by filmmaker Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and filmmakers Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films), The Emmy-winning Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979. The documentary is in the distribution phase.

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release in late 2022/early 2023.

For more on Jean Seberg read Garry McGee's books: Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith). 

“Jean Seberg” Lights up the Oster Regent Screen at the Cedar River Film Festival Aug. 27

"Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon" is an Official Selection by Invitation at the 2023 Cedar River Film Festival in Cedar Falls. The Emmy® winning documentary was co-produced by filmmakers Tammy Rundle (a Waterloo native) and husband Kelly Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, and Garry McGee of McMarr, LTD. The 86-minute feature-length documentary will screen at the Oster Regent Theatre, 103 Main Street, Cedar Falls, Iowa on Sunday, August 27 at 1:30 p.m. The filmmakers will introduce the film.

Marshalltown, Iowa’s Jean Seberg made her acting debut at age 18 in Otto Preminger’s 1957 “Saint Joan” and starred in Hollywood films “Lilith”, "Paint Your Wagon", and the blockbuster “Airport”, among others. She is best known for her performance with co-star Jean-Paul Belmondo in director Jean-Luc Godard’s groundbreaking French New Wave film “Breathless”.

Seberg’s offscreen civil rights activism and her financial support for the Black Panther Party made her a target of the F.B.I.’s COINTELPRO and their plan to “neutralize” her initiated a downward spiral leading to her mysterious and untimely death in Paris.

“The documentary strips away the Hollywood gossip, the national media hype, and the F.B.I. propaganda to find a young woman of conscience embroiled in the important issues of her day, while also carving out a unique and important international film career,” said producer/director Kelly Rundle.

“We are honored to have our documentary on Jean Seberg invited to screen in my hometown at the Cedar River Film Festival,” said producer Tammy Rundle. “Audiences will see that though she was an international movie star, Jean was a person, like all of us, who made good choices and bad choices.”

“There were things that happened to her that she didn’t deserve,” said producer/director Garry McGee. “Jean was just trying to do what was right. You see a consistent thread throughout her life of reaching out to people who had fewer opportunities than she had.”

“Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon” is the first documentary film to focus on the private side of the international movie star, combining exclusive interviews with Jean’s family, including her sister Mary Ann Seberg and former husband François Moreuil; co-star MylèneDemongeot, director Nicolas Gessner, and former Black Panther Party leader and Jean’s friend Elaine Brown. The film features never-before-seen private photographs, home movie footage, and original music by Mark and Amy Adams-Westin of Amy & Adams.

“Jean Seberg” premiered in a London Cinema as an Official Selection of the prestigious Raindance Film Festival.

The Cedar River Film Festival runs August 25^th-27^th screening 27 films created by Iowa filmmakers. There is no entry fee for the public, but a suggested donation of $5 per film. Visit https://www.mycfct.org/cedar-river-film-festival for more information.

“Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon” was funded in part by grants from Humanities Iowa, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Iowa Arts Council. The Historical Society of Marshall County served as a fiscal sponsor for the project.

The Rundles’ films have won four Mid-America Emmys® and received fourteen nominations. Mid-America Emmy winner Garry McGee is the author of “Jean Seberg: Breathless” and co-author of “Neutralized: The FBI vs Jean Seberg” and “The Films of Jean Seberg”. He received a regional Emmy® nomination for the documentary “The Last Wright”. For more information about “Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon” visit JeanSebergMovie.com.

Produced by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Emmy-award winning filmmakers Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films), Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979. The documentary is in the distribution phase.

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release in late 2022/early 2023.

For more on Jean Seberg read Garry McGee's books: Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith). 

Kino Lorber Announces New Blu Ray Release of "Paint Your Wagon" Starring Jean Seberg

Kino Lorber announced that it will soon be releasing on Blu-ray Joshua Logan's "Paint Your Wagon" (1969), starring Jean Seberg, Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin, Harve Presnell, and Ray Walston. Kino Lorber Studio Classics states it will be a: "Brand New HD Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative." The release is expected to arrive on the market later this year.


In this musical based on the Broadway show, Ben Rumson (Lee Marvin) happens upon a wrecked wagon containing a dead man and his surviving brother, Pardner (Clint Eastwood), in the wilds of California during the Gold Rush. At the burial, they discover gold dust and stake a claim. Soon a mining camp dubbed "No Name City" emerges, rife with lonely men starved for female companionship. When a polygamist Mormon arrives looking to sell off a wife (Jean Seberg), a bidding war commences.

"Paint Your Wagon" was shot by William A. Fraker (Bullitt, Gator) – Screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky (Marty, Network) & Alan Jay Lerner (An American in Paris, Gigi) – Directed by Joshua Logan (Picnic, Camelot). It received an Oscar nomination for Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation).

Produced by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Emmy-award winning filmmakers Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films), Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979. The documentary is in the distribution phase.

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release in late 2022/early 2023.

For more on Jean Seberg read Garry McGee's books: Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith). 

Augustana’s Simonsen contributes to Emmy-winning documentary

By Augustana College
Rock Island, IL

Dr. Jane Simonsen, professor of history at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illnois, was a contributor to the documentary “Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon,” winner of a Mid-America Emmy® Award in the historical documentary category.

The feature-length documentary was produced by Quad Cities filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, and Garry McGee of McMarr, LTD.

“We feel the Emmy win for 'Jean Seberg' affirms the amazing life and enduring legacy of Jean, an Iowa daughter, a caring humanitarian, and an American and international movie star,” said producer Kelly Rundle.

Jean Serg with "Breathless" director Jean-Luc Godard

Selected from 18,000 aspiring actresses world-wide at age 17, Seberg debuted in Otto Preminger’s 1957 "Saint Joan" and starred in Hollywood films “Lilith,” “The Mouse that Roared” and the blockbuster “Airport,” among others. She is best known for her performance in the groundbreaking French New Wave film “Breathless.”

Seberg’s civil rights activism and her financial support for the Black Panther Party made her a target of the FBI's COINTELPRO. The actress died in mysterious circumstances in Paris at age 40, and her family blamed FBI harassment.

Dr. Simonsen did an in-depth on-camera interview for the film focused on Seberg’s activism.

“If you look at Jean’s history, especially the joining the NAACP when she was 14, it seems she was pretty interested in racial equality and passionate about the quest for equality,” said Simonsen. “She was open-minded about who people were, and where they came from, and was genuinely interested in them.

“Jean Seberg just stepped right into the middle of so many conflicts at that time — conflicts about race, about sexuality, about communism, about politics, about women’s political involvement. And, that seems to be what got her: Seemingly, the wide belief that she overstepped her bounds in some way.”

"Seberg," a 2019 political thriller film starring Kristen Stewart, was based on the life of Jean Seberg.

The documentary features never-before-seen private photographs, and home movie footage. It is the first documentary film to focus on the private side of the international movie star, combining exclusive interviews with Seberg’s family, according to Fourth Wall Films.

 

“Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon” Wins Historical Documentary Emmy® Award

“Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon”, a feature-length documentary produced by Garry McGee of McMarr, LTD, and Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films was awarded a Mid-America Emmy® Award in the Historical Documentary category. Each of the filmmakers received an Emmy statue.

“We feel the Emmy win for “Jean Seberg” affirms the amazing life and enduring legacy of Jean, an Iowa daughter, a caring humanitarian, and an American and international movie star.” said producer Kelly Rundle.

Selected from 18,000 aspiring actresses world-wide at age 17, Marshalltown, Iowa’s Jean Seberg made her acting debut in Otto Preminger’s 1957 Saint Joan and starred in Hollywood films “Lilith”, “The Mouse that Roared”, and the blockbuster “Airport”, among others. She is best known for her performance with co-star Jean-Paul Belmondo in director Jean-Luc Godard’s groundbreaking French New Wave film “Breathless”.

Seberg’s offscreen civil rights activism and her financial support for the Black Panther Party made her a target of the F.B.I.’s COINTELPRO and their plan to “neutralize” her initiated a downward spiral leading to her mysterious and untimely death in Paris at age forty.

“Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon” features never-before-seen private photographs, and home movie footage. It is the first documentary film to focus on the private side of the international movie star, combining exclusive interviews with Jean’s family, including her sister Mary Ann Seberg and former husband François Moreuil; co-star Mylene Demongeot, director Nicolas Gessner, former Black Panther Party leader and Jean’s friend Elaine Brown, friend Mark Adams-Westin; Dr. Jane Simonsen and Dr. Horace Porter in conversation about Seberg's civil rights era activism, and film historian Dr. Rich Ness.

Garry McGee holds his Emmy Award for "Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon".

Producer Garry McGee's research and work on Seberg, began decades ago: “"When I was a student at Iowa State University and in one of many film classes that Dr. Rich Ness taught, his introduction to the film "Breathless" was a whirlwind of information not only about the work, but also about the film’s leading actress Jean Seberg. I recall he ended the overview by noting how odd it was to see Seberg in this small French film, and then ten years later she was starring in the big budget Hollywood musical "Paint Your Wagon". That was enough to pique my curiosity, as Jean Seberg wasn't exactly a household name to my generation.

"What started as a small documentary film ended up being much larger and international, with interviews not only in the U.S. but also in France with people who knew Jean. To make the documentary more well-rounded, interviews were recorded to place her as an international movie star, an humanitarian, and the icon she is today,” McGee continued.

Tammy & Kelly Rundle each received an Emmy Award for "Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon", and an Emmy in the Educational category for their short documentary "Remembering Forest Grove". They won their first Emmy in 2021 for their environmental documentary "Over and Under: Wildlife Crossings".

“My partners Kelly and Tammy Rundle asked who we could get for the important role of film historian for the documentary, and someone who knew Jean’s work well. The first person I thought of was critic Andrew Sarris, but I knew he was unwell and unable to be involved. A split second later, I suggested Dr. Rich Ness. He was contacted, agreed, and the rest is history.”

Garry McGee and "Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon" film historian Dr. Rich Ness at the Orpheum Theatre Center in Marshalltown, Iowa for the Jean Seberg Film Festival.

“Rich was always a supporter of the documentary, long before his on-screen appearance, and long after its completion,” said McGee. “He witnessed the struggles in moving forward with the work, and all that it entailed with post-production editing, fundraising and finding distribution for the film. But Rich was among the small group of supporters who was with us throughout the entire process, and we are forever grateful."

Amy and Mark Adams-Westin of Amy & Adams.

The award-winning documentary features an interview with Jean Seberg's friend Mark Adams-Westin, who sang at her daughter Nina's funeral in Marshalltown, Iowa in 1970. The original music of Mark and his wife Amy of Amy & Adams is showcased in the film.

“Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon” was funded in part with grants from Humanities Iowa, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and Iowa Arts Council. The film is preparing for distribution and its release will be announced when negotiations are completed.

Produced by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Emmy-award winning filmmakers Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films), Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979. The documentary is in the distribution phase.

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release.

For more on Jean Seberg read Garry McGee's books: Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith). 

Mylène Demongeot, Film Actress and Jean Seberg's Life-long Friend Dies at 87

By Garry McGee
Co-Producer/Director/Writer of
Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon

French actress Mylène Demongeot, a box office star from the 1950s to the present day, died in a Paris hospital on Thursday, December 1 at the age of 87. She was often compared to her contemporary Brigitte Bardot in her early years. She was a passionate advocate of environmental and animal charities.

MylèneDemongeot (born Marie-Hélène Demongeot in 1935) was a French film, television and theatre actress and author with a career spanning almost seven decades and more than 100 credits in French, Italian, and English speaking productions.

She was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for her portrayal of Abigail Williams in The Crucible (1957), and was twice nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the César Awards for 36 Quai des Orfèvres (2004) and for French California (2006). In 2017, she was made Knight of the Légiond'Honneur and Commander of the Ordre des Arts et de Lettres in 2007 under the French Republic.

David Niven, Mylène Demongeot and Jean Seberg in Bonjour Tristesse.

Mylène appeared in her first English-speaking film role in 1958’s Bonjour Tristesse, filmed on the French Riviera and in Paris, directed by Otto Preminger and co-starring David Niven, Deborah Kerr, and Jean Seberg. A life-long friendship with Jean Seberg resulted, and she shared her many thoughts and recollections of Jean with me for the biography Jean Seberg—Breathless and the documentary film Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon.

We first met in the late 1990s, it was in the Pigalle area of Paris at a coffee shop she suggested. When she arrived, workers and patrons turned their heads and whispered among themselves. They knew who she was. We visited over a couple hours and several cups of coffee, and when the bill arrived, I took it. She protested: “No. Let me pay.” I replied that I would as it was the least I could do with her having made the time to meet with me. “No. You have no money,” she stated. “If I can’t at least pay for a few cups of coffee,” I answered, “then I have no business being here with you, let alone Paris!” She laughed, knowing she lost the “fight”.

A couple years later, I returned to film an interview with her for the documentary on Jean Seberg. It was done at her home in Paris, which she shared with her husband Marc Simenon. He appeared toward the end of the session, and I asked if he’d like to share his memories of Jean. With Mylène’s encouragement he agreed. Afterwards, she and he went to their open kitchen and pulled out cheese and snacks from the refrigerator, and some wine, too.

We stood around the kitchen island with small talk, and I gave them a Zippo lighter and a Pierre Cardin pen set that I bought in the States. Small thank you gifts for their time and help (I’d purchased several as there were other interviews being conducted on that trip). They started conversing in French and laughing, then turned to me and said it was so ironic: they had just dined with Pierre Cardin the day before. Several months later I received from Mylène a card of a silhouette of Marc looking out at a body of water. She wrote that he had passed away, and that she was lost without him.

We kept in touch, though it was less and less through the years. She kept very busy, and I felt fortunate having known her. It was easy to see why Jean Seberg liked her so much…

Produced by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Emmy-award winning filmmakers Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films), Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979. The documentary is in the distribution phase.

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release in late 2022/early 2023.

For more on Jean Seberg read Garry McGee's books: Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith). 

"Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon" Garners 2022 Emmy Nomination

Producers Garry McGee of McMarr, LTD, and Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, have received a 2022 Mid-America Emmy® nomination for their documentary film Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon. 

Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon received a nomination in the Historical Documentary category. Selected from 18,000 aspiring actresses world-wide at age 17, Marshalltown, Iowa’s Jean Seberg made her acting debut in Otto Preminger’s 1957 Saint Joan and starred in Hollywood films Lilith, Paint Your Wagon, and the blockbuster Airport, among others. She is best known for her performance with co-star Jean-Paul Belmondo in director Jean-Luc Godard’s groundbreaking French New Wave film Breathless.

Seberg’s offscreen civil rights activism and her financial support for the Black Panther Party made her a target of the F.B.I.’s COINTELPRO and their plan to “neutralize” her initiated a downward spiral leading to her mysterious and untimely death in Paris.

Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon is the first documentary film to focus on the private side of the international movie star, combining exclusive interviews with Jean’s family, including her sister Mary Ann Seberg and former husband François Moreuil; co-star Mylene Demongeot, director Nicolas Gessner, and former Black Panther Party leader and Jean’s friend Elaine Brown. The film features never-before-seen private photographs, home movie footage, and original music by musicians Mark and Amy Adams-Westin of Amy & Adams. Mark, a close friend of Jean Seberg’s, was interviewed for the documentary.

“We feel the Emmy nomination for “Jean Seberg” affirms the amazing life and enduring legacy of Jean, an Iowa daughter, a caring humanitarian, and an American and international movie star.” said co-director Kelly Rundle. The film had its broadcast premiere on WQPT-PBS.

“Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon” was funded in part with grants from Humanities Iowa, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and Iowa Arts Council.

Kelly and Tammy Rundle received a Mid-America Emmy® award for their environmental documentary Over and Under: Wildlife Crossings, and have received a total of twelve Emmy-nominations for their various film projects over the last decade. Garry McGee was nominated for an Upper-Midwest Emmy® in the writing category for his documentary The Last Wright.

Jean-Luc Godard Dies at 91

Breathless director Jean-Luc Godard and Jean Seberg.

Director Jean-Luc Godard has died. He was 91. His seminal film "Breathless" would not have been possible had Jean Seberg not lent her luster and performance to the now legendary movie. We share Hollywood Reporter's Jordan Mintzer's story about the man who "revolutionized cinema" in the 1960s.

By Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter

In the wake of 'Breathless,' New Waves that sprang up across the planet, from Brazil to Czechoslovakia to Japan, owed a major debt to him, as did generations of American directors, including Scorsese, De Palma and Tarantino.

Jean-Luc Godard, the brilliant and polemical Franco-Swiss filmmaker whose work revolutionized cinema, has died. He was 91.

Godard resorted to assisted suicide Tuesday in Switzerland, a family spokesperson told Agence France-Presse.

“Jean-Luc Godard died peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones,” his wife, filmmaker Anne-Marie Mieville, and producers said in a statement. He will be cremated and there will be no official ceremony, they said.

A former film critic who wrote for the legendary Cahiers du Cinéma during its heyday of the 1950s, Godard emerged onto the scene in 1960 with his seminal debut feature, Breathless, which won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

The Paris-set crime caper, which starred Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo, forever changed the course of movies and heralded the arrival of cinematic modernism. Using jump cuts, nods to the camera and other meta-fictional devices, Breathless constantly interrupted and commented on the story as it was happening.

Read the rest of the Hollywood Reporter story at HERE!

Produced by Emmy-nominated and award-winning filmmaker Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Emmy-award winning filmmakers Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films), Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979. The documentary is in the distribution phase.

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release in late 2022/early 2023.

For more on Jean Seberg read Garry McGee's books: Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith).