La Nuit Américaine fits squarely in that micro-genre of films which concern themselves with the process of making a film, a genre energised by Federico Fellini’s neurotic Otto e Mezzo (1962) and continued with Godard’s Le Mépris (1963), Paul Mazursky’s Alex in Wonderland (1970), Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories (1980) and, most recent, the Charles Kauffman-penned Adaptation (Spike Jonze, 2002). In fact, it is almost the case that every director whose work is heavily based on individual experience will inevitably yield such a piece. Truffaut himself speaks of this expectation when explaining his decision to make a film on the cinema: “Because it’s been in my mind for a long time. And I feel as if I’ve waited an enormous time to make it.” (Senses of Cinema: “Illusion 24 frames per second: François Truffaut’s La Nuit Américaine” by Danny Fairfax, 2005

• This photo along with 34 others can be found at Tout Le Cine.com
• A still from the opening sequence at Movie Stills Collection.
• An extensive dossier about the film in French at the Bibliothèque du Film (Cinémathèque Française).