Born in Paris, but raised in various parts of Africa, she made a career assisting other directors—primarily Costa-Gavras, Wim Wenders and Jim Jarmusch—before debuting with her own film, Chocolat, in 1988.
[1][2]: 2–3 The director of photography Agnès Godard has shot almost every feature by Denis, and has said of the director that "[s]he has the faith and the belief that an association of ideas that's concise and that is based on pure cinematography — the choice of a frame, a focal point, the climate of the light — says something, and the idea that gluing those images together is going to create a sense.
The band has on occasion performed live renditions of their songs from Denis' oeuvre, accompanied by screenings of film clips.
[2] Frequent collaborators include Isaach de Bankolé, Grégoire Colin, Florence Loiret Caille,[6] Katerina Golubeva, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Michel Subor, Béatrice Dalle, Nicole Dogué, Hélène Fillières, Alex Descas, Richard Courcet, Alice Houri, Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon.
[1][7][8][9][10][5] Denis frequently collaborates with Jean-Pol Fargeau (script), Nelly Quettier (editing), Agnès Godard (cinematography) and Stuart A.