Documentalist and film maker Eleanor, wife of Francis Ford Coppola, and mother of their children Gian-Carlo, Roman, and Sofia, who has just died, was 88 years old

Born in Los Angeles on May 4, 1936, she met Francis Ford Coppola while working as an assistant art director on his first film, "Dementia 13," in 1963. They married a few months later and have never been apart since.

She is best known for directing "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse," a making-of documentary about the chaotic filming of Apocalypse Now in the Philippines, one of her husband's most iconic films released in 1979.

During the filming of this movie, which lasted 238 days, there were no shortage of twists and turns, including the destruction of the set by a typhoon, a heart attack suffered by actor Martin Sheen, and the death of a crew member. Aired on the American Showtime Network, the documentary was showered with awards, including two Emmy Awards.

A cinematographer on several feature films, she also worked as a screenwriter and director of fiction films such as "Paris Can Wait," a comedy released in 2016, and "Love is Love is Love" in 2020.

Gian-Carlo, the eldest son of the couple she formed with Francis Ford Coppola, died in 1986, at the age of 22, in a boating accident. Their other two children, Roman and Sofia, have also pursued careers in film.

In 2007, fifteen years after "Hearts of Darkness," she directed the making-of "Marie-Antoinette," one of Sofia Coppola's feature films.

According to the Guardian, questions about Eleanor's health arose when her daughter Sofia did not attend the screening of her own film, "Priscilla," at the New York Film Festival last October. She had then stated, "I'm sorry I can't be with you. But I'm with my mother, to whom this film is dedicated."

During her life, Eleanor Coppola also published two memoirs: "Notes on the Making of Apocalypse Now" and "Notes on a Life."

Eleanor Coppola's death comes a few weeks before the start of the Cannes Film Festival, where her husband is in official competition with his film Megalopolis. A titanic project, in gestation since 1983, for which he had to invest 120 million dollars of his own money, as financing had been difficult to find.