Jean-Jacques Annaud | |
|---|---|
 Jean-Jacques Annaud in 2015 | |
| Born | (1943-10-01)1 October 1943 (age 81) |
| Alma mater | Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques |
| Occupation | Film director • screenwriter • producer |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Website | jjannaud |
Jean-Jacques Annaud (French:[ʒɑ̃ʒakano]; born 1 October 1943) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directedQuest for Fire (1981),The Name of the Rose (1986),The Bear (1988),The Lover (1992),Seven Years in Tibet (1997),Enemy at the Gates (2001),Black Gold (2011), andWolf Totem (2015).
Annaud has received numerous awards for his work, including fiveCésar Awards, oneDavid di Donatello Award, and one National Academy of Cinema Award. Annaud's first film,Black and White in Color (1976), received anAcademy Award forBest Foreign Language Film.[1]
His most recent film isNotre-Dame on Fire, released in 2022.
Jean-Jacques Annaud was born on 1 October 1943 inDraveil,Juvisy-sur-Orge,Essonne, in France.[2] He was educated at the technical school inVaugirard, and in 1964 graduated from the prestigious film schoolInstitut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques (IDHEC) in Paris.
Annaud began his career by directing television advertisements in the late 1960s to early 1970s. In his first feature film,Black and White in Color (1976), he drew on his personal experience of military service inCameroon. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[3] His third film, 1981'sQuest for Fire (La Guerre du feu), received twoCésars for best film and best director.
AfterHothead (1979), a French-language film that became a cult classic in his homeland, he moved to Kenya, Scotland and Canada to shootQuest for Fire, which brought him international recognition. He subsequently won a César – French National Award – for Best Film & for Best Director. He then directed Sean Connery inThe Name of the Rose (1986), which was shot in Italian and German monasteries (César for Best Foreign Film and David Di Donatello for Best Director), and is based onUmberto Eco's popularnovel of the same name. The film version, with a screenplay byAndrew Birkin, won twoBAFTA Film Awards and was the subject of another 14 wins and two nominations. Annaud spent four years preparing for the film, traveling throughout the United States and Europe, searching for the cast and film set locations. He supposedly felt personally intrigued by the project, among other things because of a lifelong fascination with medieval churches and familiarity with Latin and Greek.[citation needed]
He then adaptedThe Bear P.O.V. (César for Best Director, 1988) in the heart of select locations of the Dolomites, Germany, Canada and Austria. He then shot in Vietnam the adaptation ofMarguerite Duras's autobiographical novel,The Lover (1992), recreating the atmosphere of colonial Indochina. He then set back out to the Canadian Rockies and directedWings of Courage, the first 3D fiction film ever made in Imax-3D (1995). In 2000 he wrote and producedRunning Free, directed bySergei Bodrov.
Annaud also worked withBrad Pitt when he directedSeven Years in Tibet (1997), shot in Argentina, Canada, Tibet, Nepal and Tyrol. In 2001, Annaud reunitedJude Law andEd Harris in a retelling of theBattle of Stalingrad (Enemy at the Gates, 2001), filmed in Germany. Soon after, Annaud flew to the ruins of the temples of Angkor and filmedTwo Brothers (2004), shot in Cambodia, Thailand and France. He then set out to revive ancient Greece (His Majesty Minor, 2007), shot entirely in Spain, then Arabia of the late 1930s, directingAntonio Banderas in Tunisia and Qatar inBlack Gold (2011). In 2015, Annaud adaptedWolf Totem, a Chinese literary phenomenon entirely shot in Inner Mongolia. The film won the People's Hundred Flowers Award and Golden Rooster in China and a dozen other trophies around the world.
Annaud signed a petition in support of film directorRoman Polanski in 2009, calling for his release after Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.[4]
In 2018, Annaud directedPatrick Dempsey in his 10-part television adaptation ofJoël Dicker's best-sellerThe Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair (2018); it was released in 22 countries and shot in Canada.
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Original title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Black and White in Color | Yes | Yes | Noirs et Blancs en couleur orLa Victoire en chantant | |
| 1979 | Hothead | Yes | Coup de tête | ||
| 1981 | Quest for Fire | Yes | La Guerre du feu | ||
| 1986 | The Name of the Rose | Yes | Der Name der Rose orLe Nom de la rose | ||
| 1988 | The Bear | Yes | L'Ours | ||
| 1992 | The Lover | Yes | Yes | L'Amant | |
| 1995 | Wings of Courage | Yes | Yes | Yes | Guillaumet, les ailes du courage |
| 1997 | Seven Years in Tibet | Yes | Yes | Sept ans au Tibet | |
| 2001 | Enemy at the Gates | Yes | Yes | Yes | Stalingrad |
| 2004 | Two Brothers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Deux frères |
| 2007 | His Majesty Minor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Sa majesté Minor |
| 2011 | Black Gold | Yes | Yes | Day of the Falcon orOr Noir | |
| 2015 | Wolf Totem | Yes | Yes | Yes | French:Le Dernier Loup Chinese: 狼图腾 |
| 2022 | Notre-Dame brûle | Yes | Yes | Notre-Dame brûle |
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair | Yes | Yes | TV mini-series |
Annaud is a member of theInstitut de France and has received numerous distinctions: Film Award of the National French Academy, Knight of the National Order of Merit, Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, and the Charlemagne Medal for European Media (Karlsmedaille für die europäischen Medien).
