Exhibiting cinema without falling into a fetishism of decorum is quite a challenge. Except perhaps when it comes to Wes Anderson, undoubtedly one of the filmmakers whose universe is most suited for such an exhibition. The Cinémathèque Française is hosting a dynamic exhibition, "Wes Anderson: The Archives," on its fifth floor until July 27, in collaboration with London's Design Museum. Expertly curated by Matthieu Orléan, Lucia Savi and Johanna Agerman Ross, drawing from the filmmaker's private collections, it offers a fantastic and playful inventory of his work, with a focus on its handcrafted side.

Indeed, the Texan dandy, born in Houston in 1969, now "euro-transplanted" between England and France, is one of the rare contemporary filmmakers to bridge so many arts and craft traditions: passionate about fashion (The Royal Tenenbaums, 2001), architecture (The Grand Budapest Hotel, 2014), models (The Life Aquatic, 2004), puppetry (Fantastic Mr. Fox, 2009; Isle of Dogs, 2018), print media (The French Dispatch, 2021) and theatricality (Asteroid City, 2023). It's no surprise that his work translates so well to the gallery. Meticulously polished, obsessively detailed and built on frontal compositions that turn the world into a grand showcase, his films are already exhibitions in themselves.

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