Alain Resnais

Alain Resnais is a French director, screenwriter, and editor born in 1922. Born into a literary family, he developed a passion for all forms of art, from photography to literature, influences that would leave a lasting mark on his work. Initially destined for a career as an actor, he joined the first class of the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques in editing and, from the end of the 1940s, began directing short and medium-length documentaries that made an impact on the public and critics alike: Van Gogh (1947), Guernica (1950) and, above all, Night et Fog (1956). He made his first fiction film in 1959, Hiroshima mon amour, scripted by Marguerite Duras, which revolutionized the classical concepts of narrative at the time. Surrounding himself with intellectuals and artists to make his films, he teamed up with Chris Marker on several occasions, notably for the highly committed Statues Also Die (1953) and Far from Vietnam (1967). Throughout his career, Resnais tried his hand at genres as varied as science fiction, comedy, theatre, and musicals. He died in March 2014.