French (Language) 50's-60's Cinema (Incl. La Nouvelle Vague)

Philippe Agostini was born on 11 August 1910 in Paris, France. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Rififi (1955), White Paws (1949) and Rencontres (1962). He was married to Odette Joyeux. He died on 20 October 2001 in Paris, France.

Henri Aisner was born on 21 May 1911 in Paris. He was an assistant director and director, known for Les copains du dimanche (1958), Le mystère de la chambre jaune (1949) and La liberté surveillée (1958). He died on 20 July 1991 in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, France.

Chantal Akerman was born on 6 June 1950 in Brussels, Belgium. She was a director and writer, known for I, You, He, She (1974), Meetings with Anna (1978) and Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975). She was married to Sonia Wieder-Atherton. She died on 5 October 2015 in Paris, France.

Moustapha Alassane was born in 1942 in N'Dougou, Niger. He was a director and writer, known for Kokoa (2003), FVVA: Femme, villa, voiture, argent (1972) and Toula, or the Genie of the Water (1974). He died on 17 March 2015 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Jean-Gabriel Albicocco was born on 15 February 1936 in Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He was a director and writer, known for The Wanderer (1967), Rat Trap (1963) and The Girl with the Golden Eyes (1961). He was married to Marie Laforêt, Hélène Tessier and Alphonsine Blanc. He died on 9 April 2001 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Marc Allégret was born on 22 December 1900 in Basel, Switzerland. He was a director and writer, known for The Curtain Rises (1938), Avec André Gide (1951) and Julietta (1953). He was married to Nadine Vogel. He died on 3 November 1973 in Paris, France.

Yves Allégret was born on 13 October 1905 in Asnières-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He was a director and writer, known for The Proud and the Beautiful (1953), La meilleure part (1955) and Dedee (1948). He was married to Michèle Cordoue, Simone Signoret and Renée Naville. He died on 31 January 1987 in Jouars-Pontchartrain, Yvelines, France.

René Allio was born on 8 March 1924 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. He was a writer and director, known for La vieille dame indigne (1965), Les camisards (1972) and Moi, Pierre Rivière, ayant égorgé ma mère, ma soeur et mon frère... (1976). He was married to Malka Ribowska and Christine Laurent. He died on 27 March 1995 in Paris, France.

Raoul André was born on 24 May 1916 in Rabat, French Protectorate in Morocco [now Morocco]. He was a director and writer, known for Mission spéciale à Caracas (1965), Le Village de la colère (1947) and Une nuit à Megève (1953). He was married to Louise Carletti. He died on 3 November 1992 in La Garenne-Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine, France.

One of Québec's most politically aware filmmakers, Denys Arcand studied history at Université de Montréal, where he co-directed Seul ou avec d'autres (1962) with Denis Héroux and co-written with Stéphane Venne. He joined the National Film Board (NFB) in 1963, where his feature-length documentary on the textile industry, On est au coton (1970), was so controversial it was suppressed for 6 years. He made another fine documentary, Québec: Duplessis et après... (1972), before leaving the NFB for the private sector. La maudite galette (1972), Réjeanne Padovani (1973) and Gina (1975) were distinctive views of Québec society, original and provocative. All 3 used the gangster film as a source while distorting many of its conventions. He then moved to TV, scripting the Duplessis (1978) series for Radio-Canada and directing 3 episodes of Empire, Inc. (1983). He returned to the NFB to make a documentary on the 1980 referendum, Le confort et l'indifférence (1982), which revealed growing cynicism about the political process. It won the Québec Critics Prize.

He returned to commercial filmmaking after a hiatus of 10 years with The Crime of Ovide Plouffe (1984), before achieving major success with the scathing comedy about sexual mores, The Decline of the American Empire (1986) (The Decline of the American Empire), a film that won numerous prizes, including the prestigious Critic's Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The New York Film Critics voted it Best Foreign Film in 1986 and it won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the 1987 Genies. It was also nominated as Best Foreign Film by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. Jesus of Montreal (1989) confirmed Arcand's international reputation, winning the Jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival. It won 10 Genies, including Best Picture and Director, and was nominated in the Best Foreign Film category by the Academy. Arcand then moved into English-language production in an attempt to break into a larger international market. Love and Human Remains (1993), his first feature in English, was followed by Stardom (2000), a film that looked at the world of fashion. Neither achieved the subtlety and texture of his earlier work.

The overwhelming success of The Barbarian Invasions (2003), which marked both a return to the French language and to the characters who had peopled The Decline of the American Empire (1986), showed that Arcand had lost none of his powers of observation. The film won two awards at the Cannes Film Festival (best screenplay, and best actor for Marie-Josée Croze), Best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival and the prestigious Oscar for Best Foreign Film. In 2005 Arcand was named Companion of the Order of Canada, which recognizes individuals for exceptional achievements of national or international significance.

Adolfo Arrieta was born on 28 August 1942 in Madrid, Spain. He is a director and writer, known for Merlín (1991), Sleeping Beauty (2016) and Les intrigues de Sylvia Couski (1975).

Philippe Arthuys was born on 22 November 1928 in Paris, France. He was a composer and writer, known for La cage de verre (1965), Des Christs par milliers (1969) and The Hole (1960). He died on 6 January 2010 in Toulouse, France.

Born in Paris on July 13th 1923, Alexandre Astruc is the son of a couple of journalists. Very good at school, he attended a preparatory school for Polytechnique but finally became both a law and an arts graduate. First a literary critic, he soon specialized as a film critic and worked for various papers and magazines such as "Combat", "La Gazette du Cinéma", "L'Ecran français", "La Nef", "Ciné-Digest", "Les Cahiers du Cinéma". He was instrumental in the creation of the film club "Objectif 49" and of the "Festival du Film Maudit" in Biarritz (circa 1949/50). His first two works were sixteen millimeter films characteristic of the Saint Germain des Prés" era. In the fifties and early sixties he directed very personal, elegant, literary movies but found it harder and harder to find producers interested in his style. He turned to television and novel writing instead.

After the Liberation Michel Audiard started a career as a movie magazine writer. Under the pen name of Jacques Potier he worked for short-lived titles such as "L'Etoile du Soir" and "Cinévie". One day, André Hunebelle, the popular French filmmaker, asked him if he thought he could write an adventure story for him. And, well...he could! Mission à Tanger (1949) having been reasonably successful, Audiard accepted offers to write other scripts. He wrote many original screenplays, adaptations and dialogues over thirty-five years, these were of uneven quality but always contained at least several brilliantly put lines uttered with relish by consenting actors! Audiard's biting humor, lucid vision of society and human behavior combined with a taste for the cinema as a crowd-pleaser were soon noticed by the public who remained faithful to the end, simply ignoring the opinions of the Parisian film critics who had made Michel one of their favorite scapegoats. In 1968 Audiard directed his own films but dissatisfied with what he was doing, he returned to writing until his untimely death.

Jean Aurel was born on 6 November 1925 in Rastolita, Mures, Romania. He was a writer and director, known for Over There, 1914-18 (1963), De l'amour (1964) and Les femmes (1969). He died on 26 August 1996 in Paris, France.

Claude Autant-Lara was born on 5 August 1901 in Luzarches, Val-d'Oise, France. He was a director and writer, known for Devil in the Flesh (1947), The Crossing of Paris (1956) and The Red and the Black (1954). He was married to Ghislaine Autant-Lara. He died on 5 February 2000 in Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes, France.

Raymond Bailly was born in 1914. He was an assistant director and director, known for Bob Morane (1964), L'étrange Monsieur Steve (1957) and Seul... à corps perdu (1963). He died in 1986.

Richard Balducci was born on 10 February 1922 in Paris, France. He was a writer and director. He was married to ??? and Gisèle Sandré. He died on 8 December 2015 in Créteil, Val-de-Marne, France.

Jacques Baratier was born on 8 March 1918 in Montpellier, Hérault, France. He was a director and writer, known for Goha (1958), La poupée (1962) and Paris la nuit (1956). He was married to Néna Baratier. He died on 27 November 2009 in Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, France.

Serge Bard is known for Destroy Yourselves (1968), Fun and Games for Everyone (1968) and Ici et maintenant (1968).

Claude Barma was born on 3 November 1918 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He was a producer and director, known for Les corsaires (1966), Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret (1967) and En votre âme et conscience (1955). He died on 30 August 1992 in Clichy-sous-Bois, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.

Rinaldo Bassi was born on 12 December 1940 in Asnières-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He is a director and assistant director, known for Un merveilleux parfum d'oseille (1969), Pourvu qu'on ait l'ivresse (1974) and Minouche (1969).

Timité Bassori is known for The Woman with the Knife (1969), Sur la dune de la solitude (1964) and Tahar Chériaa: A l'Ombre du Baobab (2014).

Jean Bastia was born on 15 February 1925 in Bastia, Corsica, France. Jean was an assistant director and director, known for ...et mourir de désir (1974), Slow Local Trains (1960) and Some Like It... Cold (1960). Jean died on 16 October 2005 in Bergerac, Dordogne, France.

Jean-Pierre Bastid was born on 4 February 1937 in Montreuil, Seine [now Seine-Saint-Denis], France. He is a writer and director, known for Bartleby (1970), Little Girls (1967) and Massacre of Pleasure (1966).