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Gérard Oury was born on 29 April 1919 in Paris, France. He was an actor and writer, known for The Sucker (1965), The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (1973) and Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At! (1966). He was married to Jacqueline Roman. He died on 19 July 2006 in Saint-Tropez, Var, France.1965 : Le Corniaud
1966 : La Grande Vadrouille
1971 : La Folie des grandeurs
1973 : Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob
1982 : L'As des as
1984 : La Vengeance du serpent à plumes
1999 : Le Schpountz- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Admirers have always had difficulty explaining Éric Rohmer's "Je ne sais quoi." Part of the challenge stems from the fact that, despite his place in French Nouvelle Vague (i.e., New Wave), his work is unlike that of his colleagues. While this may be due to the auteur's unwillingness to conform, some have argued convincingly that, in truth, he has remained more faithful to the original ideals of the movement than have his peers. Additionally, plot is not his foremost concern. It is the thoughts and emotions of his characters that are essential to Rohmer, and, just as one's own states of being are hard to define, so is the internal life of his art. Thus, rather than speaking of it in specific terms, fans often use such modifiers as "subtle," "witty," "delicious" and "enigmatic." In an interview with Dennis Hopper, Quentin Tarantino echoed what nearly every aficionado has uttered: "You have to see one of [his movies], and if you kind of like that one, then you should see his other ones, but you need to see one to see if you like it."
Detractors have no problem in expressing their displeasure. They use such phrases as "tedious like a classroom play," "arty and tiresome" and "donnishly talky." Gene Hackman, as jaded detective Harry Moseby in Night Moves (1975), delivered a now famous line that sums up these feelings: "I saw a Rohmer film once. It was kind of like watching paint dry." Undeniably, his excruciatingly slow pace and apathetic, self-absorbed characters are hallmarks, and, at times, even his greatest supporters have made trenchant remarks in this regard. Said critic Pauline Kael, "Seriocomic triviality has become Rohmer's specialty. His sensibility would be easier to take if he'd stop directing to a metronome." In that his proponents will quote attacks on him, indeed Rohmer may be alone among directors. They revel in the fact that "nothing of consequence" happens in his pictures. They are mesmerized by the dense blocks of high-brow chatter. They delight in the predictability of his aesthetic. Above all, however, they are touched by the honesty of a man who, uncompromisingly, lays bear the human soul and "life as such."
Who is Eric Rohmer? Born Jean-Marie Maurice Scherer on December 1, 1920 in Nancy, a small city in Lorraine, he relocated to Paris and became a literature teacher and newspaper reporter. In 1946, under the pen name Gilbert Cordier, he published his only novel, "Elizabeth". Soon after, his interest began to shift toward criticism, and he began frequenting Cinémathèque Français (founded by archivist Henri Langlois) along with soon-to-be New Wavers Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol and François Truffaut. It was at this time that he adopted his pseudonym, an amalgam of the names of actor/director Erich von Stroheim and novelist Sax Rohmer (author of the Fu Manchu series.) His first film, Journal d'un scélérat (1950), was shot the same year that he founded "Gazette du Cinema" along with Godard and Rivette. The next year, Rohmer joined seminal critic André Bazin at "Cahiers du Cinema", where he served as editor-in-chief from 1956 to 1963. As Cahiers was an influential publication, it not only gave him a platform from which to preach New Wave philosophy, but it enabled him to propose revisionist ideas on Hollywood. An example of the latter was "Hitchcock, The First Forty-Four Films", a book on which he collaborated with Chabrol that spoke of Alfred Hitchcock in highly favorable terms.
Rohmer's early forays into direction met with limited success. By 1958, he had completed five shorts, but his sole attempt at feature length, a version of La Comtesse de Ségur's "Les Petites filles modèles", was left unfinished. With Sign of the Lion (1962), he made his feature debut, although it was a decade before he achieved recognition. In the interim, he turned out eleven projects, including three of his "Six contes moraux" (i.e., moral tales), films devoted to examining the inner states of people in the throes of temptation. The Bakery Girl of Monceau (1963) and Suzanne's Career (1963) are unremarkable black-and-white pictures that best function as blueprints for his later output. They also mark the beginning of a business partnership with Barbet Schroeder, who starred in the former of the two. The Collector (1967), his first major effort in color, has been mistaken for a Lolita movie; on a deeper plane, it questions the manner in which one collects or rejects experience. Rohmer's first "hit" was My Night at Maud's (1969), which was nominated for two Oscars and won several international awards. It continues to be his best-known work. In it, on the eve of a proclaiming his love to Francoise, his future wife, the narrator spends a night with a pretty divorcée named Maud. Along with a friend, the two have a discussion on life, religion and Pascal's wager (i.e., the necessity of risking all on the only bet that can win.) Left alone with the sensual Maud, the narrator is forced to test his principles. The final parts in the series, Claire's Knee (1970) and Love in the Afternoon (1972) are mid-life crisis tales that cleverly reiterate the notion of self-restraint as the path to salvation.
"Comedies et Proverbs," Rohmer's second cycle, deals with deception. The Aviator's Wife (1981) is the story a naïve student who suspects his girlfriend of infidelity. In stalking her ex-lover and ultimately confronting her, we discover the levels on which he is deceiving himself. Another masterpiece is Pauline at the Beach (1983), a seaside film about adolescents' coming-of-age and the childish antics of their adult chaperones. Of the remaining installments, The Green Ray (1986) and Boyfriends and Girlfriends (1987) are the most appealing. The director's last series is known as "Contes des quatre saisons" (i.e., Tales of the Four Seasons), which too presents the dysfunctional relationships of eccentrics. In place of the social games of "Comedies et Proverbs", though, this cycle explores the lives of the emotionally isolated. A Tale of Springtime (1990) and A Tale of Winter (1992) are the more inventive pieces, the latter revisiting Ma Nuit chez Maud's "wager." Just as his oeuvre retraces itself thematically, Rohmer populates it with actors who appear and reappear in unusual ways. The final tale, Autumn Tale (1998), brings together his favorite actresses, Marie Rivière and Béatrice Romand. Like "hiver," it hearkens back to a prior project, A Good Marriage (1982), in examining Romand's quest to find a husband.
Since 1976, Rohmer has made various non-serial releases. Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (1987) and Rendez-vous in Paris (1995), both composed of vignettes, are tongue-in-cheek morality plays that merit little attention. The lush costume drama The Marquise of O (1976), in contrast, is an excellent study of the absurd formalities of 18th century aristocracy and was recognized with the Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes. His other period pieces, regrettably, have not been as successful. Perceval le Gallois (1978), while original, is a failed experiment in stagy Arthurian storytelling, and the beautifully dull The Lady and the Duke (2001) is equally unsatisfying for most fans of his oeuvre. Nonetheless, the director has demonstrated incredible consistency, and that he was able to deliver a picture of this caliber so late in his career is astounding. The legacy that this man has bestowed upon us rivals that of any auteur, with arguably as many as ten tours de force over the last four decades. Why, then, is he the least honored among the ranks of the Nouvelle Vague and among all cinematic geniuses?
Stories of Rohmer's idiosyncrasies abound. An ardent environmentalist, he has never driven a car and refuses to ride in taxis. There is no telephone in his home. He delayed the production of Ma Nuit chez Maud for a year, insisting that certain scenes could only be shot on Christmas night. Once, he requested a musical score that could be played at levels inaudible to viewers. He refers to himself as "commercial," yet his movies turn slim profits playing the art house circuit. Normally, these are kinds of anecdotes that would endear a one with the cognoscenti. His most revealing quirk, however, is that he declines interviews and shuns the spotlight. Where Hitchcock, for instance, was always ready to talk shop, Rohmer has let his films speak for themselves. He is not worried about WHAT people think of them but THAT, indeed, they think.
It would be dangerous to supplant the aforementioned "je ne sais quoi" with words. Without demystifying Rohmer's cinema, still there are broad qualities to which one may point. First, it is marked by philosophical and artistic integrity. Long before Krzysztof Kieslowski, Rohmer came up with the concept of the film cycle, and this has permitted him to build on his own work in a unique manner. A devout Catholic, he is interested in the resisting of temptation, and what does not occur in his pieces is just as intriguing as what occurs. Apropos to the mention of his spirituality is his fascination with the interplay between destiny and free will. Some choice is always central to his stories. Yet, while his narrative is devoid of conventionally dramatic events, he shows a fondness for coincidence bordering on the supernatural. In order to maintain verisimilitude, then, he employs more "long shots" and a simpler, more natural editing process than his contemporaries. He makes infrequent use of music and foley, focusing instead on the sounds of voices. Of these voices, where his narrators are male (and it is ostensibly their subjective experience to which we are privy), his women are more intelligent and complex than his men. Finally, albeit deeply contemplative, Rohmer's work is rarely conclusive. Refreshingly un-Hollywood, rather than providing an escape from reality, it compels us to face the world in which we live.1967 : La Collectionneuse
1969 : Ma nuit chez Maud
1970 : Le Genou de Claire
1972 : L'Amour l'après-midi- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Yves Robert was born on 21 June 1920 in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France. He was an actor and producer, known for The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1972), War of the Buttons (1962) and Les petites magiciennes (1986). He was married to Danièle Delorme. He died on 10 May 2002 in Paris, France.1961 : La Guerre des boutons
1967 : Alexandre le bienheureux
1972 : Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire
1976 : Un éléphant ça trompe énormément
1977 : Nous irons tous au paradis
1990 : La Gloire de mon père
1990 : Le Château de ma mère
1992 : Le Bal des casse-pieds- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Henri Verneuil was born on 15 October 1920 in Rodosto, Ottoman Empire [now Tekirdag, Turkey]. He was a director and writer, known for I... For Icarus (1979), The Sheep Has Five Legs (1954) and Mother (1991). He was married to Françoise Bonnot and Véronique Sedro. He died on 11 January 2002 in Bagnolet, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.1959 : La Vache et le Prisonnier
1962 : Un singe en hiver
1963 : Mélodie en sous-sol
1969 : Le Clan des Siciliens
1974 : Peur sur la ville
1979 : I...comme Icare
1982 : Mille Milliards de Dollars- Director
- Editor
- Writer
Alain Resnais was born on 3 June 1922 in Vannes, Morbihan, France. He was a director and editor, known for Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959), Same Old Song (1997) and My American Uncle (1980). He was married to Sabine Azéma and Florence Malraux. He died on 1 March 2014 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France.1956 : Nuit et brouillard
1959 : Hiroshima mon amour
1961 : L'Année dernière à Marienbad
1963 : Muriel
1993 : Smoking / No Smoking
1997 : On connaît la chanson- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Claude Sautet was born on 23 February 1924 in Montrouge, Seine [now Hauts-de-Seine], France. He was a writer and director, known for A Heart in Winter (1992), Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud (1995) and The Things of Life (1970). He was married to Graziella Sautet. He died on 22 July 2000 in Paris, France.1970 : Les Choses de la vie
1971 : Max et les Ferrailleurs
1972 : César et Rosalie
1974 : Vincent, François, Paul... et les autres
1980 : Un mauvais fils
1991 : Un cœur en hiver
1995 : Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Maurice Pialat was a French film director. Film critics have noted the naturalist style of his films, and their autobiographical elements.
Pialat obtained his first camera when only 16-years-old, but his early career involved creating documentary short films. His ambition was to become a painter and not a filmmaker. He made his feature film debut at the age of 43 with the drama film "Naked Childhood" (1968), concerning a child of the French foster care system who is moved through a series of foster families. The film also explored aspects of French working-class life in the 1960s, while being apolitical.
Pialat's second feature film was "We Won't Grow Old Together" (1972),concerning a loveless marriage. Lead actor Jean Yanne won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his role in the film. Pialat's third feature film was the "The Mouth Agape" (1974), depicting in realistic fashion a woman struggling with a terminal illness. The film also dealt with the escapades of the woman's husband and son in their attempts to find new sexual partners. The film was noted for its lack of sentimentality, and incorporated experiences that Pialat had from the death of his own mother.
Pialat's fourth feature film was the teen drama "Graduate First" (1978). It dealt with teenagers from working class families dealing with the end of their school lives, with their limited prospects of passing their final exams and gaining a Baccalauréat academic qualification, and with the ominous specter of high unemployment in northern France in their immediate future.
Pialat's fifth film was "Loulou" (1980), concerning the self-destructive affair between a married woman and a lower-class criminal (the eponymous Loulou) who has just been released from prison. The film dealt with the issues of pregnancy and abortion in a realistic manner. The film was nominated for the Golden Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Pialat's sixth film was "To Our Loves" (1983), and concerned the sexuality of a 15-year-old girl. The film's protagonist Suzanne (played by Sandrine Bonnaire) becomes increasingly promiscuous, as sex is the only pleasure in her life. But at the same time struggles with an inability to feel genuine love for any of her sexual partners, struggles with growing feelings of boredom and frustration about other aspects of her life, and even struggles with suicidal thoughts. The film won the César Award for Best Film, while film critics noted that the film's message was that happiness was rare and sorrow last forever.
Pialat's seventh film was the crime drama "Police" (1985). It concerned a jaded police detective investigating a drug smuggling ring, while being romantically attracted to the girlfriend of a drug smuggler. The film's lead actor Gérard Depardieu won the Best Actor of the Venice Film Festival for this role.
Pialat's eighth film was the romantic drama "Under the Sun of Satan" (1986), an adaptation of the 1926 novel by Georges Bernanos (1888-1948). The film dealt with a Catholic priest who falls in love with a female murderer. The film won the Palme d'Or award at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, despite being seen as controversial due to its subject matter. It was the first time in 21 years that a French film won the Palme d'Or.
Pialat's ninth film was the biographical film "Van Gogh" (1991), concerning the last months in the life of painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) and dealing with van Gogh's relationship with his few close associates. The film dealt primarily with van Gogh's "difficult personal relationships and declining mental state", and not with his paintings. Film critics commented that it successfully covered the artist's humanity, without being either melodramatic or sensationalist.
Pialat's tenth was "The Son Of..." (1995), concerning the family life of a 4-year-old boy. The titular boy's parents are divorced, and the boy is raised by a single father who has an unsteady love life. The film was poorly received compared to Pialat's previous works, and Pialat had plans to re-edit the film to achieve better results. Pialat's increasingly poor health aborted these plans, and Pialat retired from filmmaking in 1995, at the age of 70.
Pialat died in January, 2003, at the age of 77. His work is considered unique among the French directors, but he has had few imitators. Film critic Kent Jones has commented that Pialat always marched to the beat of a different drummer, and never cared whether anyone marched beside or behind him.1968 : L'Enfance nue
1972 : Nous ne vieillirons pas ensemble
1980 : Loulou
1983 : À nos amours
1987 : Sous le soleil de Satan
1991 : Van Gogh- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Georges Lautner was born on 24 January 1926 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He was a director and writer, known for The Professional (1981), Crooks in Clover (1963) and Galia (1966). He was married to Caroline Lautner. He died on 22 November 2013 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France.1963 : Les Tontons flingueurs
1964 : Les Barbouzes
1968 : Le Pacha
1979 : Flic ou Voyou
1981 : Le Professionnel
1984 : Joyeuses Pâques- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Agnès Varda was born on 30 May 1928 in Ixelles, Belgium. She was a director and writer, known for Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962), Vagabond (1985) and Faces Places (2017). She was married to Jacques Demy. She died on 29 March 2019 in Paris, France.1962 : Cléo de 5 à 7
1965 : Le Bonheur
1985 : Sans toit ni loi
2000 : Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse
2008 : Les Plages d'Agnès- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Claude Chabrol was born on 24 June 1930 in Paris, France. He was a director and writer, known for Le Beau Serge (1958), La Cérémonie (1995) and Story of Women (1988). He was married to Aurore Chabrol, Stéphane Audran and Agnès Goute. He died on 12 September 2010 in Paris, France.1959 : Le Beau Serge
1959 : Les Cousins
1960 : Les Bonnes Femmes
1969 : La Femme infidèle
1969 : Que la bête meure
1970 : Le Boucher
1991 : Madame Bovary
1995 : La Cérémonie
2000 : Merci pour le chocolat- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Jean-Luc Godard was born in Paris on December 3, 1930, the second of four children in a bourgeois Franco-Swiss family. His father was a doctor who owned a private clinic, and his mother came from a preeminent family of Swiss bankers. During World War II Godard became a naturalized citizen of Switzerland and attended school in Nyons, Switzerland. His parents divorced in 1948, at which time he returned to Paris to attend the Lycée Rohmer. In 1949 he studied at the Sorbonne to prepare for a degree in ethnology. However, it was during this time that he began attending with François Truffaut, Jacques Rivette, and Éric Rohmer.
In 1950 Godard, with Rivette and Rohmer, founded "Gazette du cinéma", which published five issues between May and November. He wrote a number of articles for the journal, often using the pseudonym "Hans Lucas". After Godard worked on and financed two films by Rivette and Rohmer, Godard's family cut off their financial support in 1951, and he resorted to a Bohemian lifestyle that included stealing food and money when necessary. In January 1952 he began writing film criticism for "Les cahiers du cinéma". Later that year he traveled to North and South America with his father and attempted to make his first film (of which only a tracking shot from a car was ever accomplished).
In 1953 he returned to Paris briefly before securing a job as a construction worker on a dam project in Switzerland. With the money from the job, he made a short film in 1954 about the building of the dam called Operation Concrete (1958). Later that year his mother was killed in a motor scooter accident in Switzerland. In 1956 Godard began writing again for "Les cahiers du cinéma" as well as for the journal "Arts". In 1957 Godard worked as the press attache for "Artistes Associés", and made his first French film, All Boys Are Called Patrick (1959).
In 1958 he shot Charlotte and Her Boyfriend (1958), his homage to Jean Cocteau. Later that year he took unused footage of a flood in Paris shot by Truffaut and edited it into a film called A Story of Water (1961), which was an homage to Mack Sennett. In 1959 he worked with Truffaut on the weekly publication "Temps de Paris". Godard wrote a gossip column for the journal, but also spent much time writing scenarios for films and a body of critical writings which placed him firmly in the forefront of the "nouvelle vague" aesthetic, precursing the French New Wave.
It was also in that year Godard began work on Breathless (1960). In 1960 he married Anna Karina in Switzerland. In April and May he shot The Little Soldier (1963) in Geneva and was preparing the film for a fall release in Paris. However, French censors banned it due to its references to the Algerian war, and it was not shown until 1963. In March 1960 Breathless (1960) premiered in Paris. It was hugely successful both with the film critics and at the box office, and became a landmark film in the French New Wave with its references to American cinema, its jagged editing and overall romantic/cinephilia approach to filmmaking. The film propelled the popularity of male lead Jean-Paul Belmondo with European audiences.
In 1961 Godard shot A Woman Is a Woman (1961), his first film using color widescreen stock. Later that year he participated in the collective effort to remake the film The Seven Deadly Sins (1962), which was heralded as an important project in artistic collaboration. In 1962 Godard shot Vivre sa vie (1962) in Paris, his first commercial success since "Breathless". Later that year he shot a segment entitled "Le Nouveau Monde" for the collective film Ro.Go.Pa.G. (1963), another important work in the history of collaborative multiple-authored art.
In 1963 Godard completed a film in homage to Jean Vigo entitled The Carabineers (1963), which was a resounding failure with the public and stirred furious controversy with film critics. Also that year he worked on a couple of collective films: The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers (1964) (from which Godard's sequence was later cut) and Six in Paris (1965). In 1964 Godard and his wife Anna Karina formed their own production company, Anouchka Films. They shot a film called A Married Woman (1964), which censors forced them to re-edit due to a topless sunbathing scene shot by Jacques Rozier. The censors also made Godard change the title to "Une femme marié" so as to not give the impression that this "scandalous" woman was the typical French wife. Later in the year, two French television programs were produced in devotion to Godard's work.
In the spring of 1965 Godard shot Alphaville (1965) in Paris; in the summer he shot Pierrot the Fool (1965) in Paris and the south of France. Shortly thereafter he and Anna Karina separated. Following their divorce, Godard shot Made in U.S.A (1966), "Deux ou trois choses que je sais d'elle (1966)", "L'amour en l'an 2000" (1966) (a sequel to "Alphaville" shot as a sketch for the collective film "L'amour travers les ages" (1966)).
In 1967 Godard shot The Chinese (1967) in Paris with Anne Wiazemsky, who was the granddaughter of French novelist François Mauriac. During the making of the film Godard and Wiazemsky were married in Paris. Later in the year he was prevented from traveling to North Vietnam for the shooting of a sequence for the collective film Far from Vietnam (1967). He instead shot the sequence in Paris, entitled "Camera-Oeil". Also during 1967 Godard participated (as the only Frenchman) on an Italian collective film called Love and Anger (1969).
In 1968 Godard was commissioned by French television to make Joy of Learning (1969). However, television producers were so outraged by the product Godard produced that they refused to show it. In May of that year Henri Langlois was fired by the head of the French Jean-Pierre Gorin to form the Dziga-Vertov group, infuriating Godard. He became increasingly concerned with socialist solutions to an idealist cinema, especially in providing the proletariat with the means of production and distribution. Along with other militantly political filmmakers in the Dziga-Vertov group, Godard published a series of 'Ciné-Tracts' outlining these viewpoints. In the summer of 1968 Godard traveled to New York City and Berkeley, California, to shoot the film "One American Movie", which was never completed. In September he made a trip to Canada to start another film called "Communication(s)", which also went unfinished, and then made a visit to Cuba before returning to France.
In 1969 Godard traveled to England, where he made the film See You at Mao (1970) for BBC Weekend Television, but the network later refused to show it. In the late spring he traveled with the Dziga-Vertov group to Prague to secretly shoot the film "Pravda". Later that year he shot Lotte in Italia (1971) ("Struggle for Italy") for Italian television. It was never shown, either.
In 1970 Godard traveled to Lebanon to shoot a film for the Palestinian Liberation Organization entitled "Jusque à la victoire" (1970) ("Until Victory"). Later that year he traveled to dozens of American universities trying to raise money for the film. In spite of his efforts, it was never released.1960 : À bout de souffle
1961 : Une femme est une femme
1963 : Le Mépris
1964 : Bande à part
1965 : Pierrot le fou
1968 : Le Gai Savoir
1979 : Sauve qui peut (la vie)
1988 : Histoire(s) du cinéma- Writer
- Director
- Producer
French director François Truffaut began to assiduously go to the movies at age seven. He was also a great reader but not a good pupil. He left school at 14 and started working. In 1947, aged 15, he founded a film club and met André Bazin, a French critic, who became his protector. Bazin helped the delinquent Truffaut and also when he was put in jail because he deserted the army. In 1953 Truffaut published his first movie critiques in "Les Cahiers du Cinema." In this magazine Truffaut, and some of his friends as passionate as he was, became defenders of what they call the "author policy". In 1954, as a test, Truffaut directed his first short film. Two years afterwords he assisted Roberto Rossellini with some later abandoned projects.
The year 1957 was an important one for him: he married Madeleine Morgenstern, the daughter of an important film distributor, and founded his own production company, Les Films du Carrosse; named after Jean Renoir's The Golden Coach (1952). He also directed The Mischief Makers (1957), considered the real first step of his cinematographic work. His other big year was 1959: the huge success of his first full-length film, The 400 Blows (1959), was the beginning of the New Wave, a new way of making movies in France. This was also the year his first daughter, Laura Truffaut, was born.
From 1959 until his death, François Truffaut's life and films are mixed up. Let's only note he had two other daughters Eva Truffaut (b. 1961) and Josephine (b. 1982, with French actress Fanny Ardant). Truffaut was the most popular and successful French film director ever. His main themes were passion, women, childhood and faithfulness.1959 : Les Quatre Cents Coups
1962 : Jules et Jim
1968 : Baisers volés
1973 : La Nuit américaine
1975 : L'Histoire d'Adèle H.
1980 : Le Dernier Métro- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jean-Paul Rappeneau was born on 8 April 1932 in Auxerre, Yonne, France. He is a writer and director, known for Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), A Matter of Resistance (1966) and Bon Voyage (2003).1966 : La Vie de château
1971 : Les Mariés de l'an II
1975 : Le Sauvage
1982 : Tout feu, tout flamme
1990 : Cyrano de Bergerac
1995 : Le Hussard sur le toit
2003 : Bon voyage- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Louis Malle, the descendant of a French nobleman who made a fortune in beet sugar during the Napoleonic Wars, created films that explored life and its meaning. Malle's family discouraged his early interest in film but, in 1950, allowed him to enter the Institute of Advanced Cinematographic Studies in Paris. His résumé showed that he had worked as an assistant to film maker Robert Bresson when Malle was hired by underwater explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau to be a camera operator on the Calypso. Cousteau soon promoted him to be co-director of The Silent World (1956) ("The Silent World"). Years later, Cousteau called Malle the best underwater cameraman he ever had. Malle's third film, The Lovers (1958) ("The Lovers"), starring Jeanne Moreau broke taboos against on screen eroticism. In 1968 the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the obscenity conviction of an Ohio theater that had exhibited "Les Amants." A director during the Nouvelle Vague, New Wave" of 1950s and 1960s (though technically not considered a Nouvelle Vague auteur), he also made films on the other side of the Atlantic, starting with Pretty Baby (1978), the film that made Brooke Shields an international superstar. The actress who played a supporting role in that film was given a starring role in Malle's next American film, Atlantic City (1980). That promising actress was Susan Sarandon.
In one of his later French films, Goodbye, Children (1987), Malle was able to find catharsis for an experience that had haunted him since the German occupation of France in World War II. At age 12, he was sent to a Catholic boarding school near Paris that was a refuge for several Jewish students, one of them was Malle's rival for academic honors and his friend. A kitchen worker at the school with a grudge became an informant. The priest who was the principal was arrested and the Jewish students were sent off to concentration camps.
In his final film, Vanya on 42nd Street (1994), Malle again penetrated the veil between life and art as theater people rehearse Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya." In that film, Malle worked again with theater director Andre Gregory and actor-playwright Wallace Shawn, the conversationalists of My Dinner with Andre (1981). Malle was married to Candice Bergen, and he succumbed to lymphoma in 1995.1955 : Le Monde du silence
1957 : Ascenseur pour l'échafaud
1958 : Les Amants
1960 : Zazie dans le métro
1980 : Atlantic City
1981 : My Dinner with André
1987 : Au revoir les enfants
1990 : Milou en mai- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Jean Becker was born on 10 May 1933 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for My Afternoons with Margueritte (2010), Dialogue avec mon jardinier (2007) and The Children of the Marshland (1999).1983 : L’Été meurtrier
1995 : Élisa
1999 : Les Enfants du marais
2003 : Effroyables Jardins
2007 : Dialogue avec mon jardinier
2008 : Deux jours à tuer- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Claude Berri was born on 1 July 1934 in Paris, France. He was a producer and actor, known for Jean de Florette (1986), Germinal (1993) and The Two of Us (1967). He was married to Sylvie Gautrelet and Anne-Marie Rassam. He died on 12 January 2009 in Paris, France.1966 : Le Vieil homme et l'enfant
1980 : Je vous aime
1981 Le Maître d'école
1983 : Tchao Pantin
1986 : Jean de Florette et Manon des sources
1990 : Uranus
1993 : Germinal
1996 : Lucie Aubrac
1999 : La débandade
2006 : Ensemble, c'est tout- Writer
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
One of the most successfully commercial directors of France with smash comedy hits as the Charlots , Les Sous-Doués and Les Ripoux series. Also made the first Asterix and Obelix movie, La Totale (later remade by James Cameron as "True Lies") and Banzai (with Coluche). It got him the nickname "Mr. Box Office". On the other hand the few non-comedies he made turned out to be big flops.1971 : Les Bidasses en folie
1976 : L'Aile ou la Cuisse
1977 : L'Animal
1978 : La Zizanie
1980 : Les Sous-doués
1980 : Inspecteur la Bavure
1983 : Banzaï
1984 : Les Ripoux
1987 : Association de malfaiteurs
1989 : Ripoux contre ripoux
1991 : La Totale !
1997 : Arlette- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Philippe Labro was born on 27 August 1936 in Montauban, France. He is a writer and director, known for Tout peut arriver (1969), The Inheritor (1973) and The Hunter Will Get You (1976). He has been married to Françoise Labro since 12 August 1978. They have two children.1969 : Tout peut arriver
1971 : Sans mobile apparent
1973 : L'Héritier
1976 : L'Alpagueur
1983 : La Crime
1984 : Rive droite, rive gauche- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Francis Veber was born on 28 July 1937 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France, France. He is a writer and director, known for Le Dîner de Cons (1998), The Birdcage (1996) and Ruby & Quentin (2003). He has been married to Françoise Veber since 11 January 1964. They have two children.1976 : Le Jouet
1981 : La Chèvre
1983 : Les Compères
1986 : Les Fugitifs
1996 : Le Jaguar
1998 : Le Dîner de cons
2000 : Le Placard- Director
- Writer
- Producer
He started off by making short films for television on which he was producer,screenwriter and cameraman. This was interrupted by military service in the army but only partly as he was put into the army film unit where he made over 100 films. Demobbed in 1960 he used family money for his first feature Le propre de l'homme (1961) which was a total flop. In '61 he started filming 'La Vie de Chateau' but was forced to close down after one week due to lack of finance. In 1964 he made L'amour avec des si (1964) which was a success in Sweden but a flop everywhere else. In 1963 his film Night Women (1964) had 40 minutes cut by the censor so it was never shown publicly. His film Une fille et des fusils (1965) was his first to recover production costs. In 1965 came his 5th completed film Les grands moments (1966) but he thought it so bad that he bought the film himself so that it would never be seen. Things changed round completely the following year with what became a classic - A Man and a Woman (1966) which won the 'Grand Prix at Cannes, an Oscar for Best Picture numerous other awards.1966 : Un homme et une femme
1967 : Vivre pour vivre
1972 : L'aventure c'est l'aventure
1974 : Toute une vie
1978 : Robert et Robert
1981 : Les Uns et les Autres
1987 : Attention bandits !
1988 : Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté
1993 : Tout ça... pour ça !
1994 : Les Misérables
1996 : Hommes, femmes, mode d'emploi- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Bertrand Blier was born on 14 March 1939 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Seine [now Hauts-de-Seine], France. He is a writer and director, known for The Clink of Ice (2010), Too Beautiful for You (1989) and 1, 2, 3, Freeze (1993).1974 : Les Valseuses
1976 : Calmos
1978 : Préparez vos mouchoirs
1979 : Buffet froid
1981 : Beau-père
1984 : Notre histoire
1986 : Tenue de soirée
1989 : Trop belle pour toi
1991 : Merci la vie
1993 : Un, deux, trois, soleil
2000 : Les Acteurs
2010 : Le Bruit des glaçons- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Bertrand Tavernier was the son of Geneviève (Dumond) and René Tavernier, who was a publicist, writer, and president of the French PEN club. He was a law student that preferred write film criticisms. He also wrote a few books about American movies. Then his first film won a few awards in France and abroad and established his reputation.1974 : L'Horloger de Saint-Paul
1975 : Que la fête commence...
1976 : Le Juge et l'assassin
1981 : Coup de torchon
1984 : Un dimanche à la campagne
1989 : La vie et rien d'autre
1992 : L.627
1995 : L'Appât
1996 : Capitaine Conan
2002 : Laissez-passer
2009 : Dans la brume électrique
2013 : Quai d'Orsay- Writer
- Director
- Script and Continuity Department
Danièle Thompson was born on 3 January 1942 in Monaco. She is a writer and director, known for The Log (1999), Orchestra Seats (2006) and Queen Margot (1994). She is married to Albert Koski. She was previously married to Richard Thompson.1999 : La Bûche
2002 : Décalage horaire
2006 : Fauteuils d'orchestre
2009 : Le Code a changé- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Claude Miller was born on 20 February 1942 in Paris, France. He was a writer and director, known for The Grilling (1981), L'effrontée (1985) and The Little Thief (1988). He was married to Annie Miller. He died on 4 April 2012 in Paris, France.1976 : La Meilleure Façon de marcher
1977 : Dites-lui que je l'aime
1981 : Garde à vue
1985 : L'Effrontée
1988 : La Petite Voleuse
2003 : La Petite Lili- Writer
- Director
- Actor
André Téchiné was born on 13 March 1943 in Valence, Tarn-et-Garonne, France. He is a writer and director, known for Wild Reeds (1994), Rendez-vous (1985) and Being 17 (2016).1981 : Hôtel des Amériques
1985 : Rendez-vous
1987 : Les Innocents
1991 : J'embrasse pas
1993 : Ma saison préférée
1996 : Les Voleurs
1998 : Alice et Martin
2003 : Les Égarés
2007 : Les Témoins- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alain Corneau was a Cesar Award-winning French writer-director best known for his multiple collaborations with French cinema superstars Yves Montand, Simone Signoret and Gérard Depardieu. Born on August 7, 1943 in Meung-sur-Loire, Loiret, Corneay trained as a musician but switched his interest to film, becoming an assistant director.
He was an assistant director on Costa-Gavras's 1970 film The Confession (1970) ("The Confession"), which co-starred Montand and Signoret. In 1974 he made the transition to the director's chair, helming France société anonyme (1974), a movie about drug dealers. His next policier starred Montand as a a Dirty Harry-like dick in Police Python 357 (1976) (1976), which co-starred Montand's wife Signoret. He followed it up with another crime drama starring Montand, La Menace (1977) (1977). Corneau finished up his crime cycle with Choice of Arms (1981) (1981), which starred Montand, Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve. The movie was released in the United States as "Choice of Arms."
Shifting gears away from policiers, he directed the French Foreign Legion drama 'Fort Saganne (1984)' (1984). Set in 1911, the movie starred Depardieu and Deneuve. Depardieu also headlined his lush costume drama _Tous les matins du monde (1991)- (1991), an international hit, for which Corneau won the Cesar Award, the French equivalent of the Oscar, for direction.
At the age of 67, Alain Corneau died on August 30, 2010 in Paris from cancer. His remains were interred at Père Lachaise Cemetery.1976 : Police Python 357
1979 : Série noire
1981 : Le Choix des armes
1984 : Fort Saganne
1991 : Tous les matins du monde
1997 : Le Cousin
2002 : Stupeur et tremblements
2007 : Le Deuxième Souffle- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Jean-Jacques Annaud is a French film director, screenwriter and producer, best known for directing Quest for Fire (1981), The Name of the Rose (1986), The Lover (1992), Seven Years in Tibet (1997) and Wolf Totem (2015). Annaud has received numerous awards for his work, including four César Awards, one David di Donatello Award, and one National Academy of Cinema Award. Annaud's first film, Black and White in Color (1976), received an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.1976 : La Victoire en chantant
1979 : Coup de tête
1981 : La Guerre du feu
1986 : Le Nom de la rose
1988 : L’Ours
1992 : L’Amant
1997 : Sept ans au Tibet
2001 : Stalingrad
2004 : Deux frères- Additional Crew
- Director
- Actor
Patrice Chéreau was born on 2 November 1944 in Lézigné, Maine-et-Loire, France. He was a director and actor, known for Intimacy (2001), The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and Queen Margot (1994). He died on 7 October 2013 in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France.1994 : La Reine Margot
1998 : Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Jean-Marie Poiré was born on 10 July 1945 in Paris, France. He is a writer and director, known for The Visitors (1993), Just Visiting (2001) and Operation Corned Beef (1991).1981 : Les hommes préfèrent les grosses
1982 : Le père Noël est une ordure
1983 : Papy fait de la résistance
1988 : Mes meilleurs copains
1991 : L'Opération Corned-Beef
1993 : Les Visiteurs- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
- Director
A rabid movie fan when he was young, Jean-Jacques Beineix first studied medicine before entering the movie business. During the seventies, he became an established assistant director, working with Claude Berri, René Clément, Claude Zidi and even Jerry Lewis. But, like many assistants, Beineix's ultimate dream was to direct. He had a pass at it in 1977 with the short Le chien de Monsieur Michel (1977). A promising debut, it won the first price at Trouville Festival and earned a César nomination for best short film (fiction).
In 1981, came his first long feature Diva (1981), a stylish thriller based on a book by Delacorta. When it came out, Diva was not supported by French critics and seemed at first well on its way to crash and burn. But slowly the film gained momentum due to good word of mouth and positive reactions in various festivals like Moscow and Toronto. Ultimately, the film became a great success internationally, winning four Césars along the way.
Next came the expensive The Moon in the Gutter (1983). An adaptation of a David Goodis novel, the film was even more radical than 'Diva' in its deliberate artificiality. Premiering in competition at the 36th Cannes Film Festival in 1983, the film was booed and most critics found it pretentious and boring. Only few voices rose up to defend the movie but it was not enough to save it. It flopped at the box office but manage to win one César for set design.
At that point, Beineix's career was in serious danger of biting the dust, but he came back in force in 1986 with Betty Blue (1986) (aka 'Betty Blue'), based on a 'Philippe Djian' novel. Despite mixed reviews, the film was another international hit, won the top price at Montréal festival, and was nominated for best foreign film at both the Oscars and Golden Globes, each time losing to Fons Rademakers' 'De Aanslag'. It also earned 9 César nominations including best film and best director ... but won only for best poster !
Beineix's next movie Roselyne and the Lions (1988), set in the circus world, came and went unnoticed. In 1992, IP5: The Island of Pachyderms (1992) got attention mostly for being Yves Montand's last role. Beineix then resurfaced where he was least expected with social documentaries. He did a film about children in Romania; Otaku (1994) was shot in Japan; Assigné à résidence (1997) was about locked-in syndrome victim Jean-Dominique Bauby.
In 2001, he came back to fiction with Mortal Transfer (2001), a psycho-thriller based on a Jean-Pierre Gattegno novel. Once again, critics were lukewarm and the film performed poorly at the box-office. In 2002, however, Beineix drew strong ratings with made for TV documentary Loft Paradoxe (2002), an attempt to analyse the success of reality show 'Loft Story'.
With his intense focus on the power of images, Beineix paved the way for directors like Luc Besson, Leos Carax and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. A self-proclaimed misanthropist who never hid his contempt for producers and was often deemed excessive and irascible, he will go down in the history books as a director who raised controversy not for the subjects he tackled but for his stylistic approach. Still, with Diva (1981) and Betty Blue (1986), he directed two of the few French films of the eighties that reached an international audience.1980 : Diva
1983 : La Lune dans le caniveau
1986 : 37°2 le matin
1989 : Roselyne et les Lions- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Coline Serreau was born on 29 October 1947 in Paris, France. She is an actress and writer, known for Three Men and a Cradle (1985), Why Not! (1977) and Chaos (2001). She was previously married to Benno Besson.1985 : Trois hommes et un couffin
1989 : Romuald et Juliette
1992 : La Crise
1996 : La Belle Verte
2001 : Chaos- Director
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Patrice Leconte was born on 12 November 1947 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for Ridicule (1996), La fille sur le pont (1999) and Man on the Train (2002).1978 : Les Bronzés
1979 : Les Bronzés font du ski
1981 : Viens chez moi, j'habite chez une copine
1982 : Ma femme s'appelle reviens
1987 : Tandem
1989 : Monsieur Hire
1990 : Le Mari de la coiffeuse
1996 : Ridicule
1996 : Les Grands Ducs
1998 : Une chance sur deux
1999 : La Fille sur le pont
2000 : La Veuve de Saint-Pierre- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Régis Wargnier was born on 18 April 1948 in Metz, Moselle, France. He is a writer and director, known for East/West (1999), Indochine (1992) and La femme de ma vie (1986).1986 : La Femme de ma vie
1989 : Je suis le seigneur du château
1991 : Indochine
1995 : Une femme française
1999 : Est-Ouest- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Diane Kurys was born on 3 December 1948 in Lyon, Rhône, France. She is an actress and director, known for For a Woman (2013), Entre Nous (1983) and Peppermint Soda (1977).1977 : Diabolo menthe
1983 : Coup de foudre
1990 : La Baule-les-Pins
1999 : Les Enfants du siècle
2008 : Sagan- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Gérard Jugnot was born on 4 May 1951 in Paris, France. He is an actor and writer, known for The Chorus (2004), Une époque formidable... (1991) and Scout toujours... (1985).1984 : Pinot simple flic
1985 : Scout toujours...
1991 : Une époque formidable...
1994 : Casque bleu
1996 : Fallait pas !...
2000 : Meilleur Espoir féminin
2002 : Monsieur Batignole- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Tonie Marshall was the daughter of French actress Micheline Presle and American actor/director William Marshall, who appeared in such '40s and '50s films as Knute Rockne All American (1940). As a child, Tonie saw her mother "doing movies and getting invited everywhere", and the life of an actress impressed her. Tonie decided on the profession for herself and went on to appear in over fifteen films and TV mini-series since the late 70s, in that time working with such acclaimed directors as Claude Zidi and with such stars as Daniel Auteuil and Richard Bohringer.
In 1988, she appeared in the French TV miniseries Palace (1988) starring Michel Blanc. But making a living as an actress sometimes meant accepting roles that were less satisfying. Looking for a transition out of acting, she began a career recording voiceovers for radio commercials, where she was able to work in between the worlds of acting and writing, and eventually got into writing scripts. She debuted as writer/director with police comedy Pentimento (1989).
Four years later she wrote and directed Something Fishy (1994) which was very well received in France and was promoted at Festivals in the US as "Something's Fishy". Her next film as a director was Bastard Brood (1996) which starred Nathalie Baye and told the story of a woman who having never known her father, discovers that he is a monstrous cannibal accused of numerous crimes.
But it was Venus Beauty Institute (1999) that established Marshall as a force in France's film industry when it swept the 1999 Cesars, the French equivalent of the Academy Awards.1996 : Enfants de salaud
1998 : Vénus beauté (institut)
2003 : France Boutique- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Michel Blanc was born on 16 April 1952 in Courbevoie, Seine [now Hauts-de-Seine], France. He is an actor and writer, known for Dead Tired (1994), Monsieur Hire (1989) and The Minister (2011).1984 : Marche à l'ombre
1994 : Grosse fatigue
1999 : Mauvaise passe
2002 : Embrassez qui vous voudrez- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Étienne Chatiliez was born on 17 June 1952 in Roubaix, France. He is a director and writer, known for Life Is a Long Quiet River (1988), Happiness Is in the Field (1995) and Auntie Danielle (1990).1988 : La vie est un long fleuve tranquille
1989 : Tatie Danielle
1995 : Le bonheur est dans le pré
2001 : Tanguy- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a self-taught director who was very quickly interested by cinema, with a predilection for a fantastic cinema where form is as important as the subject. Thus he started directing TV commercials and video clips (such as Julien Clerc in 1984). At the same time he met designer/drawer Marc Caro with whom he made two short animation movies: L'évasion (1978) and Le manège (1979), the latter winning a César for the best short movie. After these two successful movies Jeunet and Caro spent more than one year together by making every detail (scenario, costumes, production design) of their third short movie: The Bunker of the Last Gunshots (1981). This movie combined sci-fi and heroic-fantasy in a visually delirious story of the rising paranoia among soldiers trapped underground. With that movie they garnered several festival prizes in France. (This movie also marked their first collaboration with Gilles Adrien who later wrote the story of their two feature movies with them). After that Jeunet directed two other short movies without the help of Caro: Pas de repos pour Billy Brakko (1983), then Foutaises (1989) with Dominique Pinon who became another regular collaborator of Jeunet. All Jeunet's short movies won a lot of awards in France but also overseas and he won a second César with Foutaises (1989).
In 1991, Jeunet and Caro took their first steps in a feature movie: Delicatessen (1991). It was such a success that it won 4 Césars including the awards for the best new director(s) and the best scenario. For this movie Jeunet and Caro divided responsibilities with the former guiding the actors and the latter coordinating the artistic elements. And Jeunet showed again his liking to have Dominique Pinon, of course, but also Rufus, Jean-Claude Dreyfus and Ticky Holgado who appeared again in Jeunet's next movies, or Maurice Lamy who already had a little role in Foutaises (1989). The success of Delicatessen (1991) even surprised Jeunet and Caro themselves but they took advantage of that in order to finally make their almost 10 year-old project! This project took more than 4 more years to be carried out but the movie turned out enormous: The City of Lost Children (1995) was a black tale and was so innovative at this period that they needed to create new software for the special effects (mostly made by Pitof). Jeunet and Caro kept the same responsibilities as in Delicatessen (1991) and the movie also combined different international skills: US actor Ron Perlman, Chilean-born actor Daniel Emilfork, Iranian cinematographer Darius Khondji (who was already in the crew of Delicatessen (1991)), Americo-Italian composer Angelo Badalamenti and French fashion-designer Jean-Paul Gaultier for the costumes. While the film was supposed to be suitable for children, some considered it "dark", to which Jeunet and Caro replied that it was no more "dark" than Pinocchio (1940) or Bambi (1942).
But these critics didn't stop the movie from being successful and when the movie gained them further attention, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood called them. Thus in 1997, Jeunet left France to make a temporary career in the USA for the fourth installment of the 'Alien' series: Alien: Resurrection (1997). Marc Caro followed him just as a design supervisor but Jeunet brought with him a little army' of his usual collaborators (mostly French): actors Dominique Pinon and Ron Perlman, but also Pitof, Darius Khondji or editor Hervé Schneid, and for the first time Alain Carsoux who was responsible of the special effects of Jeunet's next film. In 2000, after two collaborations with Caro and one in the US, Jeunet came back to France in order to make a more personal movie, even if Guillaume Laurant wrote the story with him. Thus he used a lot of different details he wrote everywhere during his life (and also recycled things he'd already done, e.g. in Foutaises (1989)) and shot his story mostly in the Parisian suburb of Montmartre where he lives. Then the result was Amélie (2001) starring Audrey Tautou and Mathieu Kassovitz. With this movie Jeunet made the biggest worldwide success of French cinema history. A real magical potion, which won innumerable awards in the whole world including 4 Césars (therefore Jeunet won his fifth and sixth Césars!).
Jeunet eventually decided to adapt Sébastien Japrisot's book A Very Long Engagement (2004) for which he called Audrey Tautou and Dominique Pinon again, but also many other famous French actors and Jodie Foster. It had one of the most important budgets in French film history and eventually had a good international success and many nominations and awards.1991 : Delicatessen (avec Marc Caro)
1995 : La Cité des enfants perdus (avec Marc Caro)
1997 : Alien, la résurrection
2001 : Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
2004 : Un long dimanche de fiançailles
2009 : Micmacs à tire-larigot- Director
- Writer
Alain Berbérian was born on 2 July 1953 in Beyrouth, Lebanon. He was a director and writer, known for Six-Pack (2000), Paparazzi (1998) and Dead Weight (2002). He died on 22 August 2017 in Paris, France.1994 : La Cité de la peur
1998 : Paparazzi
2000 : Six-Pack
2002 : Le Boulet- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Olivier Assayas is a French film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is best know for his films Demonlover (2002), Something in the Air (2012), Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) and Personal Shopper (2016).
Assayas is the son of French director/screenwriter Raymond Assayas, alias Jacques Rémy.
His directorial debut was in the short film Copyright (1979).1986 : Désordre
1996 : Irma Vep
1998 : Fin août, début septembre
2002 : Demonlover
2004 : Clean
2010 : Carlos- Sound Department
- Director
- Writer
Philippe Lioret was born on 10 October 1955 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for Welcome (2009), Don't Worry, I'm Fine (2006) and Tombés du ciel (1993).1997 : Tenue correcte exigée
2001 : Mademoiselle
2004 : L'Équipier
2006 : Je vais bien, ne t'en fais pas
2009 : Welcome- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Erick Zonca was born on 10 September 1956 in Orléans, Loiret, France. He is a writer and director, known for The Dreamlife of Angels (1998), Julia (2008) and Black Tide (2018).1998 : La Vie rêvée des anges
2008 : Julia- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Luc Besson spent the first years of his life following his parents, scuba diving instructors, around the world. His early life was entirely aquatic. He already showed amazing creativity as a youth, writing early drafts of The Big Blue (1988) and The Fifth Element (1997), as an adolescent bored in school. He planned on becoming a marine biologist specializing in dolphins until a diving accident at age 17 which rendered him unable to dive any longer. He moved back to Paris, where he was born, and only at age 18 did he first have an urban life or television. He realized that film was a medium which he could combine all his interests in various arts together, so he began taking odd jobs on various films. He moved to America for three years, then returned to France and formed Les Films de Loups - his own production company, which later changed its name to Les Films de Dauphins. He is now able to dive again.1983 : Le Dernier Combat
1985 : Subway
1988 : Le Grand Bleu
1990 : Nikita
1994 : Léon
1997 : Le Cinquième Élément
1999 : Jeanne d'Arc
2005 : Angel-A- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Born in 1960 in Antibes (in the South of France), Christophe Gans became crazy about movies at an early stage. As a teenager, he made a lot of samurai and kung fu super-8 films with his friends. At the end of the seventies, he founded the fanzine "Rhesus Zero" about B-movies. In 1980, he studied at the French cinema school Idhec and directed a short movie called "Silver Slime", a tribute to Mario Bava. In 1982, he founded the magazine "Starfix" and defended directors like David Cronenberg, Dario Argento, Russel Mulcahy, David Lynch, John Carpenter or Sergio Leone. He decided to make movies and directed one of the three parts of _Necronomicon (1994)_ called "The Drowned", then "Crying Freeman" from the famous Japanese manga. Gans created the video collection "HK" devoted to Hong Kong movies. He worked for two years on a free adaptation of Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues under the Sea" but the project failed. In 1999, he was asked to make Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) ("Brotherhood of the Wolf") about the Beast of Gévaudan, an unknown animal who killed more than one hundred people in France at the end of 18th century. The movie was released in January 2001 and was a great success (more than five million people saw it).1995 : Crying Freeman
2001 : Le Pacte des loups
2006 : Silent Hill- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Arnaud Desplechin was born on 31 October 1960 in Roubaix, Nord, France. He is a director and writer, known for Kings & Queen (2004), The Sentinel (1992) and La vie des morts (1991).1996 : Comment je me suis disputé... (ma vie sexuelle)
2000 : Esther Kahn
2004 : Rois et Reine
2008 : Un conte de Noël- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Cédric Klapisch was born on 4 September 1961 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He is a director and actor, known for The Spanish Apartment (2002), Rise (2022) and Family Resemblances (1996). He has been married to Lola Doillon since 2002. They have one child.1991 : Riens du tout
1994 : Le Péril jeune
1996 : Chacun cherche son chat
1996 : Un air de famille
1999 : Peut-être
2001 : L'Auberge espagnole
2002 : Ni pour ni contre (bien au contraire)
2005 : Les Poupées russes
2008 : Paris- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Christian Carion was born in a family of farmers in the North of France. Despite nursing a passion for films since he was 13, he travels a scientific path. After passing his baccalauréat, he joins an engineering school affiliated to the french ministry of agriculture, thus answering his family's wishes.
Yet the movies were never far away, and at a point he no longer could hide his wishes to make films. He rented a camera and began shooting films he himself describes as « uninteresting ». At that moment he met Christophe Rossignon. Both men decide there and then to start making movies. Christian Carion will be the film-maker and Christophe Rossignon the producer. And sometimes an actor as in the short film Carion shoots in 1999: Monsieur le député.
In 2001, Christian Carion directs his first feature film: Une hirondelle a fait le printemps (The girl from Paris), the story, an hommage to his upbringing, tells the meeting of a brooding farmer, Michel Serrault, and a parisian girl seeking the calm of the countryside, played by Mathilde Seigner. The movie is a hit, seducing over 2,4 millions of french moviegoers.
The success allows Carion to move on to a more ambitious project, Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas). A movie he had in mind since 1993. Screened in Cannes for the film festival in 2005, this historic movie depicts the fraternizations of warriors on the eve of Christmas during World War I. The movie, a huge public success, was nominated numerous times in the french Cesar and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.
Two years later, he filmed another historic movie ; L'affaire Farewell''(Farewell), with Emir Kusturica and Guillaume Canet. A spy movie set in Russia and based on true events.
In 2014 he shot, on the roads of northern France, En mai, fais ce qu'il te plaît (Come what may). Another historical piece about the exodus of millions of people in may 1940, when France was falling apart and the inhabitants of northern France were fleeing the german troops. Written using numerous recollections from the northern people, the movie depicts the quest of a german dissident, looking for his son. The original music was composed by Enio Morricone.2001 : Une hirondelle a fait le printemps
2005 : Joyeux Noël
2009 : L'Affaire Farewell- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Gaspar Noé is an Argentinian filmmaker and screenwriter who lives in France. He is the son of Luis Felipe Noé, an Argentinian artist. He directed I Stand Alone, Irréversible, Enter the Void, Love, Climax, Carne, Lux Æterna, Sodomites and Vortex. His films are known for having a sensory overload style, most notably in Enter the Void. He is married to Lucile Hadzihalilovic.1998 : Seul contre tous
2002 : Irréversible
2010 : Enter the Void- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Noémie Lvovsky was born on 14 December 1964 in Paris, France. She is an actress and writer, known for Camille Rewinds (2012), Life Doesn't Scare Me (1999) and Feelings (2003).1999 : La Vie ne me fait pas peur
2003 : Les Sentiments
2007 : Faut que ça danse!
2012 : Camille redouble- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Jean-François Richet was born on 2 July 1966 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for Mesrine: Killer Instinct (2008), Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 (2008) and État des lieux (1995).1997 : Ma 6-T va crack-er
2001 : De l'amour
2005 : Assaut sur le central 13 (Assault on Precinct 13)
2008 : L'Instinct de mort
2008 : L'Ennemi public n° 1- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Xavier Beauvois was born on 20 March 1967 in Auchel, Pas-de-Calais, France. He is an actor and writer, known for Of Gods and Men (2010), North (1991) and Don't Forget You're Going to Die (1995).1995 : N'oublie pas que tu vas mourir
2000 : Selon Matthieu
2005 : Le Petit Lieutenant
2010 : Des hommes et des dieux- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Michel Hazanavicius was born and raised in Paris, France. His grandparents were originally from Lithuania, but relocated to France in the 1920s. Hazanavicius attended art school, and moved on to work as a director for commercials and television projects. In 1999, he wrote and directed his first feature film Mes amis (1999), which featured his brother Serge Hazanavicius. His next feature film, spy parody, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006) was a success at the French box office, and warranted a sequel, OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009), which was also a hit. Hazanavicius came to the attention of international audiences with the release of an almost wordless film, The Artist (2011), which starred his wife, Bérénice Bejo and OSS 117 star Jean Dujardin. The film was a critical and popular hit, garnering many major nominations and awards.1999 : Mes amis
2006 : OSS 117 : Le Caire, nid d'espions
2009 : OSS 117 : Rio ne répond plus
2011 : The Artist- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Mathieu Kassovitz was born on 3 August 1967 in Paris, France. He is an actor and director, known for Amélie (2001), La haine (1995) and The Fifth Element (1997).1993 : Métisse
1995 : La Haine
1997 : Assassin(s)
2000 : Les Rivières pourpres
2003 : Gothika
2008 : Babylon A.D.- Director
- Writer
- Editor
François Ozon was born on 15 November 1967 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for In the House (2012), 8 Women (2002) and Swimming Pool (2003).1999 : Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brûlantes
2000 : Sous le sable
2001 : Huit Femmes
2003 : Swimming Pool
2006 : Angel
2010 : Le Refuge
2010 : Potiche
2012 : Dans la maison