Famous Biographies

China Born: Xi’an, China, 1950. Internationally successful Chinese Fifth Generation director. Following the Cultural Revolution from 1968 to 1978 he toiled as a farm hand and unskilled labourer. As a hobby, he honed his skills as a photographer. When the Beijing Film Academy was re-opened in 1 Continue reading the biography

Sweden Born: Vateras, Sweden, 24 May 1925. Died: London, England, 17 March 1994. Swedish actress and director, who made much of her career in the UK. Mai Zetterling secured her first part at the age of sixteen and won international attention for her role (which she always considered her best) as the Continue reading the biography

KRZYSZTOF ZANUSSI Poland Born: Warsaw, Poland, 17 July 1939. A graduate of the physics department of the University of Warsaw, he began making amateur films in the late 50s, after completing a film course as part of his elective curriculum. In 1960 he enrolled at the Lodz film school and remained th Continue reading the biography

(Yang Te-ch’ang) Taiwan Born: Shanghai, China, 1947. Edward Yang is often cited, along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien, as one of the central figures of New Taiwan Cinema. Yang’s visual and narrative style is among the most distinctive and spectacular in recent Chinese film. His films are quiet, sl Continue reading the biography

Born: Malmö, Sweden, 8 June 1930. Died: 1 May 1997. Already acclaimed as one of the leading novelists of his generation, Widerberg turned to film criticism in the early 1960s. In 1962 he published a collection of essays, Vision in the Swedish Cinema, which vociferously denounced Swedish film as rar Continue reading the biography

(Wilhelm Ernst Wenders) Germany Born: Düsseldorf, Germany, 14 August 1945. One of the best known directors of the New German Cinema, Wenders is often characterized as the “existentialist” of the movement. Stylistically, his films blend Hollywood forms and genres with elements of counter Continue reading the biography

Born: Suwalki, Poland, 6 March 1926. Poland’s leading filmmaker and one of the major figures in postwar East European cinema. The son of a cavalry officer who was killed in WWII, he became a Resistance fighter at the age of 16. After the Liberation, he studied painting at the Kraków Academy o Continue reading the biography

Born: Paris, France, 26 April 1905. Died: Paris, France, 26 October 1934. French director, one of the most talented romantic and tragic figures in French cinema. Vigo’s father, an anarchist who died in jail in mysterious circumstances in 1917, came from an Andorran family. Jean Vigo was attrac Continue reading the biography

Born: Brussels, Belgium, 30 May 1928. French director (of features and shorts) trained in art and photography. Her first feature, La Pointe courte (1956), anticipated the New Wave in production methods and aesthetics. World recognition came with Cléo de 5 à 7 / Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962). Sans toit n Continue reading the biography

Born: Paris, France, 6 February 1932. Died: Neuilly, France, 21 October 1984. Influential film critic, leading New Wave director and heir to the humanistic cinematic tradition of Jean Renoir, François Truffaut made films that reflected his three professed passions: a love of cinema, an interest in Continue reading the biography