Filmmaker Guy Maddin is the focus of a retrospective in Paris. Above is a scene from his film My Winnipeg. (Jody Shapiro/Documentary Channel)

The Pompidou Centre in Paris begins a retrospective of the work of Guy Maddin Thursday night, the first major show in France to centre on the Winnipeg filmmaker.

The influential centre for the arts opens its series with My Winnipeg, Maddin's fantastical black-and-white tribute to his home city.

Maddin will be in attendance with actress Isabella Rossellini, who stars in his film The Saddest Music in the World.

In a festival extending to Nov. 7, the Pompidou Centre will screen 10 feature films and 15 shorts by Maddin, also including Brand Upon the Brain, Archangel and Tales from the Gimli Hospital.

Many of Maddin's films use gothic imagery to reflect a surreal view of the world. Manitoba figures in most of his work, along with images of hockey and snow and references to old movies.

Paris Match is hailing him as a Canadian David Lynch and interviewed the filmmaker about his Manitoba childhood.

The interviewer also posed the question "How do you define your films?"

"As honest as possible," Maddin replies. "The public can easily identify where I show my ego, my cowardice, my hidden desires and my fantasies."