Who created the concept of "auteur theory"?

The concept of "auteur theory" was significantly developed by François Truffaut, who articulated the idea that the director, as the primary creative force behind a film, could be viewed as its "author." This perspective emerged from the French New Wave movement in the 1950s and 1960s, where Truffaut and other filmmakers argued that the director's personal vision and style could imprint a distinctive mark on a film, similar to that of a literary author.

Truffaut's essay "A Certain Tendency in French Cinema" effectively laid the groundwork for evaluating films based on the stylistic and thematic consistency of directors, making the case that films should be analyzed as products of their creators rather than mere commercial products. This marked a shift in film criticism, encouraging a focus on the artistic intention and individual voice of filmmakers.

While other filmmakers like Jean-Luc Godard and Agnes Varda were prominent in the New Wave and contributed to the discourse around film as art, it was Truffaut's articulation of auteur theory that crystallized and popularized the idea, leading to its widespread acceptance in cinematic study and criticism. Alfred Hitchcock, although a quintessential auteur himself, is seen as a subject rather than the creator of the theory.