Bertrand Tavernier

1941-2021

Bertrand Tavernier is a French screenwriter, director and producer. He started his career as a press agent, fighting for films and directors he believed in. His first film L’horloger de Saint-Paul (The Clockmaker) in 1974 won the “Silver Bear award” at the Berlin Film Festival. He came back to Berlin in 1980 with La mort en direct (Death Watch). Coup de torchon (Clean Slate) was nominated for the “Best Foreign Language Film” Oscar in 1981 and Tavernier won the “Best Director Award” at the Cannes Film Festival in 1984 with Un dimanche à la campagne (A Sunday in the Country). His biography also includes Round Midnight in 1986, La vie et rien d’autre (Life and Nothing But) in 1989, L’appât (The Bait) in 1995, Capitaine Conan in 1996, Ca commence aujourd’hui (All Starts Today) in 1999, Laissez-passer (Safe Conduct) in 2002, Holly Lola in 2004, In The Electric Mist in 2009. La Princesse de Montpensier (The Princess of Montpensier) was selected at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and Quai d’Orsay was released in 2013. In 2015, the Venice Film Festival honoured his lifetime contribution to cinema with a “Golden Lion” award. His latest project, A Journey Through French Cinema (Mon Voyage dans le cinéma français), a personal documentary telling the story of French cinema from 1930s to the 1970s, was released in 2016 and adapted in a TV series of 9 episodes in 2017.