FEIGINOVA, LYUDMILA

Lyudmila Feiginova

Dates unknown; deceased.

Lyudmila Feiginova (also sometimes credited as Feyginova) started working as an editor in 1959. She edited most of Andrei Tarkovsky’s films, including Stalker, The Mirror, Solaris, and Andrei Rublev, and numerous other films by other directors. She was also assistant editor, though uncredited, on Dersu Uzala, Akira Kurosawa’s film set in Russia.

“Feiginova was a highly professional — and very interesting — person. While working on the films of Tarkovski she would often suggest significant changes during the editing of the film. For example, in Mirror, Feiginova was the one who proposed that the scene with the stutterer should open the film. That scene was based on a memory Andrei had from the house of his mother; it was something he had watched on TV. The scene was originally intended for the middle of the film, but Feiginova suggested that it should be the opening scene of Mirror — and Andrei agreed.
Another scene which Feignova rearranged was that of the monologue of Stalker’s wife. This scene takes place in the bar, and its intended place in the film was just after the chat of the three protagonists, before taking off for the Zone. Feiginova however suggested that it would be more interesting if the scene appeared at the very end, after Stalker’s return. To Andrei this did not seem appropriate at first, since the scene had been shot in the bar, with interiors different from those of Stalker’s house. Feiginova responded, “Nobody will notice that it was shot elsewhere, because they will all be intently concentrating on the actress,” and true enough: Nobody notices this little detail unless it is pointed out to them, as Alissa Freindlikh’s performance is so utterly captivating.”
—Comment by Tarkovskaia in “An Interview with Marina Tarkovskaia and Alexander Gordon”. The full interview can be found in the appendix.

ATTIA, KAHÉNA

Kahéna Attia

No birth date available.

Kahéna Attia (sometimes also credited as Attia-Reveill) is a Tunisian editor who began her career as an assistant editor in 1971 and has twenty-five credits. Her first is for Ousmane Sembene’s Camp de Thiaroye; she also edited his Faat-Kine. Attia won best editing awards at the National Film Festival of Tangier for Rachid El Ouali’s Ymma and at FESPACO for Nadia Fares’ Honey and Ashes. She also edited Mohamed Challouf’s Tahar Cherera—In the Shadow of the Baobab, a documentary about the father of pan-cinematic Pan-Africanism and founder in 1966 of Carthage Film Days, the first film festival in Africa and the Arab World.

“For Guimba, I tried to show things from the point of view of an African woman. Cheick [Oumar Sissoko] allowed me to use all of the creativity I could bring and in this he was very respectful of my input; women can challenge State tyranny by means of seduction, an aspect that contributes to the film’s originality. The writing itself allows this aspect to be strengthened in a film directed by a man.”
—Interview with Kahena Attia at FESPACO in 1997 by Olivier Barlet. The full interview (in French) can be found in the Appendix.

LUCAS, MARCIA

Marcia Lucas

1945-2026

Marcia Lucas edited Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and was then the supervising editor of his next two films, Taxi Driver and New York, New York. The first film by her husband George Lucas that she co-edited (with Verna Fields) was American Graffiti. She then co-edited the first Star Wars: Episode IV with Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew. They won an Oscar and a Saturn Award. Lucas co-edited the next two Star Wars: Episodes V and VI. After their divorce, she retired from editing work. But later, in the same galaxy…

“I love editing and I’m real gifted at it,” she stated in 1983. “I have an innate ability to take good material and make it better, or take bad material and make it fair. I’m compulsive about it. I think I’m even an editor in real life.”

“I felt we were partners, partners in the ranch, partners in our home, and we did these films together. I wasn’t a fifty percent partner, but I felt I had something to bring to the table. I was the more emotional person who came from the heart, and George was the more intellectual and visual, and I thought that provided a nice balance. But George would never acknowledge that to me. I think he resented my criticisms, felt that all I ever did was put him down. In his mind, I always stayed the stupid Valley girl. He never felt I had any talent, he never felt I was very smart and he never gave me much credit. When we were finishing Jedi, George told me he thought I was a pretty good editor. In the sixteen years of our being together I think that was the only time he complimented me.”

(I love this cartoon but sorry, I couldn’t track down who did it.)

About editing Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore:
“Marty [Scorsese] called, and asked if I would do his first studio feature. He was terrified of the studio executives, that Warners was going to give him some old fuddy-duddy editor or a spy–the studios were known for having spies on such projects. Marty liked to edit, and I felt like I was being hired to cut a movie so I wouldn’t cut it, so I’d let the director cut it. But I thought, if I’m ever going to get any real credit, I’m going to have to cut a movie for somebody besides George. ‘Cause if I’m cutting for my husband, they’re going to think, George lets his wife play around in the cutting room. George agreed with that.”
— Three excerpts from “In Tribute to Marcia Lucas” by Michael Kaminski. The full text can be found in the Appendix

BONNOT, FRANÇOISE

Françoise Bonnot

1939 – 2018

Françoise Bonnot, with forty-eight film credits, was the daughter of Monique Bonnot, who edited many films for Jean-Pierre Melville. Her first credit was as the assistant to her mother on his Two Men in Manhattan. When her mother became unavailable, Bonnot edited his Army of Shadows. In 1968, she began her thirty-year eight film collaboration with Costa-Gavras. The first was Z. Bonnot won an Oscar for Z and a BAFTA for Missing. She also edited Polanski’s The Tenant and worked with Julie Taymor on films such as Frida and The Tempest.

“Americans say that the writer is the first editor, and the editor is the last writer. This is an apt formulation. You have to intentionally (re)organize the images to extract their essence, to expose the meaning. That’s where everything gets complicated: if a word betrays you, you can always replace it. But an image is fixed on the film reel, it is irreplaceable. One must then manipulate it, weave it, cut it, rethink it, etc.”

“It’s a mistake to think that [we alter images]. But perhaps that mistake is part of the legend about editing. The image is not so naïve, it’s alive, full and complete, it subscribes to a certain logic. To the one who examines it, who listens, and manipulates it gently, at times with charm, it affirms its reason for being. It imposes its melody by itself. All the shots, taken separately, and later arranged together, remind me of my own need, my desire, and my will to follow the footage through its appearance in the world….I alternate between being the guide, the copilot, the censor, the audience, etc. It’s an incessant relay game….To speak of editing is to speak of love. I’ll repeat myself. Intuition, fusion, fury, momentum, tenderness, rhythm. The important thing is to do it, to make the movie with sincerity. A beautiful film, isn’t it primarily an authentic film? It’s an adventure. Us, lovers of images, we are looking for excellence. No words suffice to explain this juggling act which a breath can transport, transcend or complete.”
—Two excerpts from an interview with Françoise Bonnot by Sonia Bressler. The full interview (in French and in English) can be found in the Appendix.