Romane Conquest

Five years ago, Romane Bohringer was just another French teen plugging away at her eco/e studies. Now all of 20, she is the star of two films: The Accompanist and Cyril Collard's Savage Nights, in which she gives a raw, tempestuous performance that earned her a French Cesar award. Collard's film, opening this month, is an adaptation of his autobiographical novel about an H.I.V.-positive bisexual who sleeps with a young woman without telling her of his condition, and then carries on his relationships with both the woman and his male lover. "People seem to think of me as the emblem of a generation," says Bohringer, lighting a Marlboro. Pourquoi? Credit her youth and ability, but also the grace and self-assuredness she shows as a spokesperson for the film. Collard, who is also the film's star, died of AIDS last March, at 35, days before the movie was awarded a Cesar for best film. "His movie doesn't give any lessons to people," says Bohringer, noting its cult following. "People are taking out of it the power of life and the desire to go on living."

DEVON JACKSON