Repeatedly explored the artist's inner world and personal struggle through semi-autobiographical films like 'The 400 Blows' and 'Day for Night,' making artistic identity formation central to his work.

Deeply interrogated the creative process and existential crises of artists in films like 'Persona' and 'Through a Glass Darkly,' examining how identity fragments and reforms through artistic expression.

Continuously questioned documentary and cinematic truth while reinventing her own artistic identity across decades, making the filmmaker's gaze and subjective perspective explicit in works like 'The Beaches of Agnès.'