Born in London, Claire Simon grew up in France and began her studies in ethnology while also learning in Arabic. Self-taught, she learned to edit and directed her first short films in the 1970s, before joining the Ateliers Varan, where she became familiar with the realist style of direct cinema. During her prolific career, the filmmaker has combined true and fictional stories, as illustrated in her films It Burns (Ça brûle) (2005), or Playtime (1992), a documentary that explores the social life of children on a kindergarten playground.
In 2008, her film God’s Offices (Les Bureaux de Dieu) (2008), a work of realist fiction, receives the SACD prize at the Cannes Film Festival Directors’ Fortnight. In 2016, Claire Simon wins the Award for Best Documentary at the Venice International Film Festival with The Graduation (Le concours). Our Body (Notre Corps) premiered at Berlinale / Forum in 2023.