Olivier Assayas | |
|---|---|
 Assayas in 2010 | |
| Born | (1955-01-25)25 January 1955 (age 71) Paris, France |
| Occupations | Film director, screenwriter, film critic |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Spouse | |
| Partner | Mia Hansen-Løve (2002–2017) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) | Raymond Assayas andCatherine de Károlyi |
| Relatives | Michka Assayas (brother) |
Olivier Assayas (French:[ɔlivjeasajas]; born 25 January 1955) is a French film director, screenwriter and film critic. Assayas is known for his eclectic filmography, consisting of slow-burningperiod pieces,psychological thrillers,neo-noirs, and comedies. He has directed French, Spanish, and English-language films with international casts. The son of filmmakerJacques Rémy, Assayas began his career as a critic forCahiers du Cinéma. There he wrote aboutworld cinema and itsfilm auteurs, who later influenced his work. Assayas made several short films, and made his feature debut withDisorder in 1986.
He continued directing feature films, withCold Water (1994) considered a breakthrough film in his career. It was his first film to screen at theCannes Film Festival in theUn Certain Regard section. His followup film,Irma Vep (1996), also screened at Cannes, whileSentimental Destinies (2000),Demonlover (2002), andClean (2004) all officially competed for thePalme d'Or. In 2006, he contributed a short film to theanthology filmParis, je t'aime (2006).
Assayas gained acclaim for his dramasSummer Hours (2008),Clouds of Sils Maria (2014), andPersonal Shopper (2016); the latter won him theCannes Film Festival Award for Best Director. He also directed the comedyNon-Fiction (2018) and the spy thrillerWasp Network (2019).
Assayas was born inParis, France, the son of French director/screenwriterRaymond Assayas, alias Jacques Rémy, andCatherine de Károlyi, a fashion designer. His father was ofTurkish-Jewish origin and had settled in Italy before France. His mother was Protestant and of Hungarian origin.[1][2][3][4]
Assayas started his career in the industry by helping his father, ghost-writing episodes for television shows his father was working on when his health failed. In a 2010 interview, Assayas said his main political influences when growing up wereGuy Debord andGeorge Orwell.[5] Of the 1968May uprising to overthrowCharles de Gaulle, Assayas said: "I was defined by the politics of May '68, but for me May '68 was an anti-totalitarian uprising. People seemed to forget that at the occupied Odéon theater, you had crossed flags-black and red, and I was on the side of the black element."[5]
Assayas's biggest hit to date isIrma Vep, starringMaggie Cheung. It is a tribute to both French directorLouis Feuillade andHong Kong cinema.
While working atCahiers du cinéma, Assayas wrote lovingly about both European and Asian film directors he admired. He has made a documentary,HHH: A Portrait of Hou Hsiao-hsien, about Taiwanese filmmakerHou Hsiao-hsien.
Assayas married Cheung in 1998. They divorced in 2001, but their relationship remained amicable. In 2004, she starred in his filmClean.
He met actress-directorMia Hansen-Løve when Hansen-Løve, 17 at the time, starred in Assayas's 1998 featureLate August, Early September. He has said they "didn't get together until [she] was 20".[6] They separated in 2017.[7]
In 2009 and 2010, Assayas signed two petitions in support of directorRoman Polanski, who had been detained in Switzerland while traveling to a film festival in relation to his 1977sexual abuse charges in the United States and had long been in exile from the United States. The first petition argued that the detention would undermine the tradition of film festivals as a place for works to be shown "freely and safely". It said that arresting filmmakers traveling to neutral countries could open the door "for actions of which no-one can know the effects".[8][9][10][11][12]
Assayas directed and co-wrote the 2010 French television miniseriesCarlos, about the life of the terroristIlich Ramírez Sánchez. Venezuelan actorÉdgar Ramírez won theCésar Award for Most Promising Actor in 2011 for his performance as Carlos.
In April 2011, it was announced that Assayas would be a member of the jury for the main competition at the2011 Cannes Film Festival.[13]
Assayas's 2012 filmSomething in the Air was selected to compete for theGolden Lion at the69th Venice International Film Festival.[14] Assayas won theOsella for Best Screenplay at Venice.[15] His 2014 filmClouds of Sils Maria was selected to compete for thePalme d'Or in the main competition section at the2014 Cannes Film Festival.[16]
Sils Maria won theLouis Delluc Prize and garnered sixCésar Award nominations, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.Kristen Stewart won aCésar Award for Best Supporting Actress.[17][18]
In 2016, Assayas wonBest Director Award (Cannes Film Festival) forPersonal Shopper, which also starred Stewart.[19]
In June 2017, it was announced that Assayas would preside over the 2017Locarno Film Festival.[20]
In an interview with Nick Pinkerton ofReverse Shot, Assayas talked about his influences:
That radicality in cinema involved just being outside of the world of modern images, and the key to it was the work ofRobert Bresson, who has been by far the most important influence in my work, and intellectually it's been the influence ofGuy Debord—basically, you know, it's been Debord–Bresson, Bresson–Debord, the things that've always defined my framework, the way I look at the world.[21]
In the2012Sight & Sound directors' poll, Assayas listed his ten favorite films as2001: A Space Odyssey,The Gospel According to St. Matthew,Ludwig,A Man Escaped,Mirror,Napoléon,Playtime,The Rules of the Game,The Tree of Life, andVan Gogh.[22]
| Year | Title | Director | Screenwriter | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Disorder | Yes | Yes | Forum Distribution |
| 1989 | Winter's Child | Yes | Yes | Ciné Classic |
| 1991 | Paris Awakens | Yes | Yes | Pan-Européenne |
| 1993 | A New Life | Yes | Yes | Pyramide Distribution |
| 1994 | Cold Water | Yes | Yes | Pan-Européenne |
| 1996 | Irma Vep | Yes | Yes | Haut et Court |
| 1998 | Late August, Early September | Yes | Yes | PolyGram Film Distribution |
| 2000 | Sentimental Destinies | Yes | Yes | Pathé Distribution |
| 2002 | Demonlover | Yes | Yes | SND Films |
| 2004 | Clean | Yes | Yes | ARP Sélection |
| 2006 | Paris, je t'aime | Yes | Yes | Segment: "Quartier des Enfants Rouges" La Fabrique de Films |
| 2007 | Boarding Gate | Yes | Yes | ARP Sélection |
| 2008 | Summer Hours | Yes | Yes | MK2 Films |
| 2012 | Something in the Air | Yes | Yes | |
| 2014 | Clouds of Sils Maria | Yes | Yes | Les Films du Losange |
| 2016 | Personal Shopper | Yes | Yes | |
| 2018 | Non-Fiction | Yes | Yes | Ad Vitam Distribution |
| 2019 | Wasp Network | Yes | Yes | Netflix |
| 2024 | Suspended Time | Yes | Yes | |
| 2025 | The Wizard of the Kremlin | Yes | Yes |
As a writer only
| Year | Title | Director | Screenwriter | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Étoiles et toiles | Yes | Documentary | |
| 1994 | Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge... | Yes | Yes | TV series |
| 1997 | Cinéma, de notre temps | Yes | Yes | Episode:HHH - Un portrait de Hou Hsiao-hsien |
| 2006 | Noise | Yes | Documentary | |
| 2007 | To Each His Own Cinema | Yes | Yes | Segment: "Recrudescence" |
| 2007 | Stockhausen / Preljocaj Dialogue | Yes | Documentary | |
| 2008 | Eldorado | Yes | ||
| 2010 | Carlos | Yes | Yes | miniseries |
| 2022 | Irma Vep | Yes | Yes |
| Year | Title | Director | Screenwriter | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Nuit féline | Yes | Short film | |
| 1979 | Copyright | Yes | Short film | |
| 1980 | Rectangle - Deux chansons de Jacno | Yes | Short film | |
| 1980 | Scopitone | Yes | Yes | Short film |
| 1982 | Laissé inachevé à Tokyo | Yes | Yes | Short film |
| 1984 | Winston Tong en studio | Yes | Short documentary | |
| 1998 | Man Yuk: A Portrait of Maggie Cheung | Yes | Short documentary |
