Country Director: France
by carosolucas | created - 01 May 2016 | updated - 24 Dec 2019 | Public
1. Jean Renoir
Writer | La règle du jeu
Son of the famous Impressionist painter Pierre Auguste, he had a happy childhood. Pierre Renoir was his brother, and Claude Renoir was his nephew. After the end of World War I, where he won the Croix de Guerre, he moved from scriptwriting to filmmaking. He married Catherine Hessling, for whom he ...
-
(França, EUA & Índia)
1- A Regra do Jogo : 10
2- A Grande Ilusão : 10
3- Rio Sagrado : 10
4- Um Dia no Campo : 10
5- Boudu, A Salvo das Águas : 9
6- O Submundo : 9
7- A Cadela : 9
8- O Crime do Sr.Lange : 9
9- Toni : 9
10- Almoço Sobre a Relva : 9
11- A Besta Humana : 9
12- Uma Vida Sem Alegria : 9
13- Cancã Francês : 9
14- A Carruagem de Ouro : 9
15- Estranhas Coisas de Paris : 8
16- Amor à Terra : 8
17- Madame Bovary : 8
18- A Marsellha :8
19- Mulher Desejada : 8
20- Nana : 8
21- O Segredo do Pantano : 8
22- Segredos da Alcova : 8
23- Essa Terra é Minha : 7
24-
2. René Clair
Writer | Le silence est d'or
René Clair was born on November 11, 1898 in Paris, France. He was a writer and director, known for Man About Town (1947), Beauties of the Night (1952) and The Grand Maneuver (1955). He was married to Bronia Clair. He died on March 15, 1981 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France.
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
3. Marcel Carné
Director | Le quai des brumes
Marcel Carné, the son of a cabinet maker, entered the movies as the assistant of Jacques Feyder. At the age of 25 he directed his first movie Jenny (1936). Colaborating with the writer Jacques Prévert, the decorator Alexandre Trauner, the musician and composer Maurice Jaubert and the actor Jean ...
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
4. Jean Cocteau
Writer | La Belle et la Bête
Jean Cocteau was one of the most multi-talented artists of the 20th century. In addition to being a director, he was a poet, novelist, painter, playwright, set designer, and actor. He began writing at 10 and was a published poet by age 16. He collaborated with the "Russian Ballet" company of Sergei...
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5. Georges Franju
Director | Les yeux sans visage
Georges Franju is a figure of immense importance in the history of French cinema, not primarily for his films (exceptional though many of these are) but for being the co-founder, with Henri Langlois, of the Cinematheque Française in 1937--France's most famous and important film archive.
He worked ...
-
1-
2-
3-
6. Henri-Georges Clouzot
Writer | Le salaire de la peur
Beginning his film career as a screenwriter, Henri-Georges Clouzot switched over to directing and in 1943 had the distinction of having his film The Raven (1943) banned by both the German forces occupying France and the Free French forces fighting them, but for different reasons. He shot to ...
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
7. Jacques Tourneur
Director | Cat People
Born in Paris in 1904, Tourneur went to Hollywood with his father, director Maurice Tourneur around 1913. He started out as a script clerk and editor for his father, then graduated to such jobs as directing shorts (often with the pseudonym Jack Turner), both in France and America. He was hired to ...
-
(França & EUA)
1- Nick Carter nos Trópicos : 6
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
11-
12-
13-
14-
8. Jacques Becker
Writer | Le trou
His interest in films was stimulated by a meeting with King Vidor, who offered him employment in the US as actor and assistant director. However, he remained in France and became assistant to Jean Renoir, a friend of the family, during that director's peak period (1932-39). In 1934 he ventured ...
-
1- Amores de Apache : 9
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
9. Robert Bresson
Writer | Au hasard Balthazar
Robert Bresson trained as a painter before moving into films as a screenwriter, making a short film (atypically a comedy), Public Affairs (1934) in 1934. After spending more than a year as a German POW during World War II, he made his debut with Angels of Sin (1943) in 1943. His next film, The ...
-
1- A Grande Testemunha : 10
2- Um Condenado à Morte Escapou : 10
3- O Batedor de Carteiras : 10
4- Diário de um Pároco de Aldeia : 10
5- Mouchette : 9
6- O Processo de Joana D'arc : 9
7- Lancelot do Lago : 9
8- O Dinheiro : 9
9- Uma Mulher Delicada : 9
10- Quatro Noites de um Sonhador : 9
11- O Diabo Provavelmente : 9
12- As Damas do Bois de Boulogne : 8
10. René Clément
Director | Jeux interdits
René Clément was one of the leading French directors of the post-World War II era. He directed what are regarded as some of the greatest films of the time, such as The Battle of the Rails (1946), Forbidden Games (1952) and The Day and the Hour (1963). He was later almost forgotten as a director. He...
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
11. Jacques Tati
Writer | Playtime
The comic genius Jacques Tati was born Taticheff, descended from a noble Russian family. His grandfather, Count Dimitri, had been a general in the Imperial Army and had served as military attaché to the Russian Embassy in Paris. His father, Emmanuel Taticheff, was a well-to-do picture framer who ...
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
12. Julien Duvivier
Writer | Panique
Revered by such legendary fellow directors as Ingmar Bergman and Jean Renoir, Julien Duvivier is one of the most legendary figures in the history of French cinema. He is perhaps the most neglected of the "Big Five" of classic French cinema (the other four being Jean Renoir, Rene Clair, Jacques ...
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
13. Claude Chabrol
Director | Le beau Serge
Claude Chabrol was born on June 24, 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 September 12, 2010 in Paris, France.
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
11-
12-
13-
14-
15-
16-
17-
18-
19-
20-
21-
22-
23
24-
25-
26-
27-
28-
29-
30-
31-
32-
33-
34-
35-
36-
37-
38-
39-
14. Jean-Luc Godard
Director | Bande à part
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 ...
-
1- O Demônio das Onze Horas : 10
2- Viver a Vida : 10
3- O Desprezo : 10
4- O Bando à Parte : 9
5- Alphaville : 9
6- Week End : 9
7- Adeus à Linguagem : 9
8- Acossado : 9
9- Uma Mulher Casada : 8
10- Um Mulher é Uma Mulher : 8
11- A Chinesa : 8
12- O Pequeno Soldado : 8
13- Masculino e Feminino : 8
14- 2 ou 3 Coisas que Sei Sobre Ela : 8
15- Made in U.S.A : 7
16-
17-
18-
19-
20-
21-
22-
23-
24-
25-
26-
27-
28-
29-
30-
31-
32-
33-
34-
15. François Truffaut
Writer | La nuit américaine
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 ...
-
1- Os Incompreendidos : 10
2- Jules e Jim : 10
3- A Noite Americana : 10
4- Beijos Proibidos : 9
5- Atirem no Pianista : 9
6- Domicílio Conjugal : 9
7- A Noiva Estava de Preto : 9
8- Duas Inglesas e o Amor : 9
9- O Garoto Selvagem : 9
10- Um Só Pecado : 9
11- De Repente Num Domingo : 9
12- Fahrenheit 451 : 9
13- O Homem que Amava as Mulheres : 8
14- O Último Metrô : 8
15- A História de Adele H. : 8
16- A Sereia do Mississipi : 8
17- O Quarto Verde : 8
18- A Idade da Inocência : 8
19- A Mulher do Lado : 8
20- O Amor em Fuga : 8
21- Uma Jovem Tão Bela Como Eu : 6
16. Alain Resnais
Director | Hiroshima mon amour
Alain Resnais was born on June 3, 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 March 1, 2014 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, ...
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
11-
12-
13-
14-
15-
16-
17-
18-
17. Jacques Rivette
Director | La Belle Noiseuse
Although François Truffaut has written that the New Wave began "thanks to Rivette," the films of this masterful French director are not well known. Rivette, like his "Cahiers du Cinéma" colleagues Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol and Éric Rohmer, did graduate to filmmaking but, like Rohmer...
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
11-
12-
13-
14-
15-
16-
17-
18-
18. Jacques Demy
Soundtrack | Les parapluies de Cherbourg
Jacques Demy was born on June 5, 1931 in Pontchâteau, Loire-Atlantique, France. He was a director and writer, known for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) and A Room in Town (1982). He was married to Agnès Varda. He died on October 27, 1990 in Paris, France.
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
19. Éric Rohmer
Director | Ma nuit chez Maud
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, ...
-
1- Minha Noite com Ela : 10
2- A Colecionadora : 9
3- O Joelho de Claire : 9
4- A Carreira de Suzanne : 8
5- O Signo do Leão : 8
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
11-
12-
13-
14-
15-
16-
17-
18-
19-
20-
21-
22-
23-
20. Agnès Varda
Director | Cléo de 5 à 7
Agnès Varda was born on May 30, 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 March 29, 2019 in Paris, France.
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
21. Jean-Pierre Melville
Writer | Le samouraï
The name "Melville" is not immediately associated with film. It conjures up images of white whales and crackbrained captains, of naysaying notaries and soup-spilling sailors. It is the countersign to a realm of men and their deeds, both heroic and villainous. It is the American novel, with its ...
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
11-
22. Louis Malle
Director | Au revoir les enfants
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 ...
-
(França & EUA)
1- Atlantic City : 9
2- Zazie no Metrô : 8
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
11-
12-
13-
14-
15-
16-
17-
23. Alain Robbe-Grillet
Writer | Un bruit qui rend fou
Born in Brest, France, in 1922, Alain Robbe-Grillet initially studied mathematics and biology. He graduated from the Paris-based Institut National Agronomique (National Institute of Agronomy) in 1945 and embarked on a career of scientific research in the tropics and in France. Then at age 30 he ...
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
24. Philippe Garrel
Writer | Les amants réguliers
Philippe Garrel was born on April 6, 1948 in Paris, France. He is a writer and director, known for Regular Lovers (2005), I Can No Longer Hear the Guitar (1991) and Liberté, la nuit (1984).
-
1- À Sombra de uma Mulher : 8
2- O Amante de Um Dia : 8
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
11-
12-
13-
14-
15-
16-
25. Maurice Pialat
Director | À nos amours
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...
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
26. Catherine Breillat
Writer | À ma soeur!
Catherine Breillat is a Paris based filmmaker and writer who became famous for her distinctively personal films on sexuality, gender trouble and sibling rivalry. Accused of being a "porno auteuriste", Breillat allowed for an unbiased view of sexuality and extended the language of mainstream movies....
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
11-
12-
27. Claire Denis
Director | High Life
The films of Claire Denis frequently explore the fragile connections between people and the ways in which the most seemingly inconsequential relationship can have life-changing effects. At the heart of Denis' cinema is a fascination with the delights and difficulties of belonging and otherness, the...
-
1- High Life : 9
2- Deixe a Luz do Sol Entrar : 8
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
11-
12-
28. Leos Carax
Director | Holy Motors
Leos Carax made several short films and also wrote film criticism, then at the age of 24 years made a very strong first feature Boy Meets Girl (1984). The film played at the 1984 Cannes film festival and was a critical triumph. It paved the way for Carax's second feature Bad Blood (1986) (Bad Blood...
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
29. Olivier Assayas
Writer | Personal Shopper
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 ...
-
(França, Hong Kong & EUA)
1- Personal Shopper : 8
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
30. Michel Gondry
Director | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
He grew up in Versailles with a family who was very influenced by pop music. When he was young, Gondry wanted to be a painter or an inventor. In the 80s he entered in an art school in Paris where he could develop his graphic skills and where he also met friends with whom he created a pop-rock band ...
-
(França & EUA)
1- Brilho Eterno de Uma Mente Sem Lembranças : 9
2- Micróbio e Gasolina : 8
3- A Espuma dos Dias : 6
4-
5-
6-
31. Gaspar Noé
Director | Enter the Void
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 ...
-
1- Enter the Void : 9
2- Irreversível : 9
3- Climax : 8
4- Sozinho Contra Todos : 8
5- Love : 7
32. Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Director | Un long dimanche de fiançailles
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/...
-
(França & EUA)
1- O Fabuloso Destino de Amelie Poulan : 9
2- Uma Viagem Extraordinária : 8
3-
4-
5-
6-
33. Laurent Cantet
Director | Entre les murs
Laurent Cantet was born on April 11, 1961 in Melle, Deux-Sèvres, France. He was a director and writer, known for The Class (2008), Human Resources (1999) and Time Out (2001). He died on April 25, 2024 in Paris, France.
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
34. François Ozon
Director | Dans la maison
François Ozon was born on November 15, 1967 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for In the House (2012), 8 Women (2002) and Swimming Pool (2003).
-
1- Frantz : 8
2- O Amante Duplo : 8
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
11-
12-
13-
14-
35. Bruno Dumont
Writer | P'tit Quinquin
Bruno Dumont was born on March 14, 1958 in Bailleul, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. He is a writer and director, known for Li'l Quinquin (2014), The Life of Jesus (1997) and Camille Claudel 1915 (2013).
-
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
36. Jacques Audiard
Writer | De rouille et d'os
Born in Paris, France, in 1952. Jacques Audiard's family has always been involved in movie business. His father, Michel, was a popular screenwriter and director and his uncle a producer. But in his teens he refused that world and wanted to be a teacher. He studied literature and philosophy at the ...
-
1- Os Irmãos Sisters : 8
2- Ferrugem e Osso : 8
3- Dheepan : 8
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
37. Mia Hansen-Løve
Director | L'avenir
Cinema came into Mia Hansen-Løve's life when she was seventeen, as Olivier Assayas made her start as an actress in Late August, Early September (1998). Two years later, he gave her the part of "Aline" in his Les Destinées (2000). Their artistic collaboration was coupled by a union in real ...
-
1- O Que Está Por Vir : 9
2-
3-
4-
5-
38. Céline Sciamma
Writer | Portrait de la jeune fille en feu
Céline Sciamma was born on November 12, 1978 in Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, France. She is a writer and director, known for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), Petite Maman (2021) and Tomboy (2011).
-
1- Tomboy : 8
2- Girlhood : 7
3-
Tell Your Friends