Director
Alain Jessua
94 years · Paris, France · 13 films
Alain Jessua began his career as assistant to directors like Max Ophüls, Marcel Carne, Yves Allégret and Jacques Becker, before making his unique short film, Léon la lune, which earned him the prestigious Prix Jean-Vigo award in 1957. A few years later, in 1963, his first feature film (which became "cult" among moviegoers) won two prizes in Cannes and also Venice: La Vie à l'envers, with Charles Denner and Jean Yanne in his first movie role. He then went on to direct a series of successful and critically acclaimed feature films, which he produced himself (a rare risk in the French cinema landscape). Alain Jessua is regularly honored in France and abroad. His short film Léon la lune was screened at the MOMA - Museum of Modern Art in New York a few years ago and Martin Scorsese cited La Vie à l'envers as one of the films that really made an impact on him. Jean Tulard , in his "Dictionary of Cinema", writes: "He proposes a cinema where he tackles the problems of our time and makes cries of alarm. " Alain Jessua is also the author of six novels.
Best known for
Filmography 13
Alain Jessua, le franc-tireur du cinéma français
2021 · Self
The Story of French Fantasy Cinema
2019 · Self (archive footage)
Max Ophüls, le peintre de l'amour fatal
2013 · Self
The Colors of the Devil
1997 · Director, Writer
No Harm Intended
1988 · Producer, Director
Frankenstein 90
1984 · Director, Screenplay
Paradise for All
1982 · Director, Writer
The Dogs
1979 · Director, Writer
On Hoopla
Armageddon
1977 · Director, Writer
Shock Treatment
1973 · Director, Music
The Killing Game
1967 · Director, Writer
Life Upside Down
1964 · Director, Writer
Léon la lune
1956 · Director, Writer