PARIS (AP) — French director Jacques Rivette, a secretive pioneer of convention-bashing New Wave film who brought renown to women actors such as Emmanuelle Beart, has died at 87.

Rivette's films — like many of the New Wave era — routinely appeared at elite film festivals though didn't always enjoy commercial success.

French President Francois Hollande, in a statement Friday announcing Rivette's death, hailed him for creating major female roles. Among them was his first film, "La Religieuse" (The Nun), the award-winning "La Belle Noiseuse" (The Beautiful Troublemaker) in 1991, and a 1996 version of the Joan of Arc tale called "Jeanne la Pucelle."

Serge Toubiana, head of the Cinematheque museum in Paris, described on France-Info radio Rivette's "sense of conspiracy, sense of secrecy" and the "magnificent place" he provided to women characters.