French film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma, which helped launch the 1950s New Wave, has been sold by Le Monde to international arts publishing house Phaidon Press.
Founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca and edited by Eric Rohmer, Cahiers du Cinéma was a crucible for writers-turned-New Wave directors like François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, and a vocal advocate of filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, Jean Renoir and Jean Cocteau.
In 1988 its parent company was acquired by the newspaper Le Monde, leading to a much-criticised makeover of the magazine in 1999; in April, Le Monde said it would seek a new owner for Cahiers du Cinéma as part of a corporate reorganisation.
Phaidon was founded in Vienna in 1923 before moving to London after the occupation of the city by the Nazis in the 1930s. In 1990 current owner Richard Schlagman bought the company, which has bases worldwide with two central offices in London and New York.
Schlagman told the Guardian: "I am delighted to have taken custody of this venerable title. The magazine has had an extraordinary history, although in recent years it has struggled.
"I am determined to once again make Cahiers du Cinéma play a central role in the world of filmmaking and indispensable to its participants and aspirants. I am positive that Cahiers can once again become relevant to our times and speak to a new generation of cinephiles."
Le Monde director-general, David Guiraud, added: "We are convinced that Phaidon will continue to develop Cahiers du Cinéma and all its current activities, in full respect of the history and the values of this mythical revue."
