Olivier Assayas

French author and director, born in Paris in 1955.

After art school and a master’s in humanities, Olivier Assayas directed three short films between 1979 and 1982 with Elli Medeiros and Jacno, inspired by the post-punk Parisian scene. During the same period and until 1985, he wrote for Cahiers du Cinéma and Rock et Folk. He was a scriptwriter for André Téchiné and several others before directing his first feature film in 1986, Disorder, which won the Critic’s Prize in Venice. A diverse filmography was to follow, including Irma Vep, Cold Water and Sentimental Destinies. As an avid cinephile, he produced a portrait of Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien in 1997, which contributed to the latter’s rise to fame from as early as 1984, when he was making his first films. In 2010, he directed a 5hr30 m fresco, Carlos, based on the life of the Venezuelan terrorist. In 2014, Sils Maria received the Prix Louis Delluc, and his latest film, Personal Shopper, obtained the Best Director Award in Cannes in 2016. In 2022, Olivier Assayas re-adapted his film Irma Vep into a TV series of the same name.
Disorder (1986) – Winter's Child (1989) – Paris Awakens (1991) – A new life (1993) – Cold Water (1994) – Irma Vep (1996) – Late August, early September (1998) – HHH - A Portrait of Hou Hsiao Hsien (1999) – Les Destinées sentimentales (2000) – Demonlover (2002) – Clean (2004) – Paris, je t'aime (2006) – Boarding Gate (2007) – Summer Hours (2008) – Carlos (2010) –Something in the air (2012) – Sils Maria (2014) – Personal shopper (2016) – Non-Fiction (2019) – Cuban Network (2020) – Irma Vep (Miniseries, 2022)

Their list of films

"Most of my favorite movies ended up not being on this list as I thought other directors would have selected them already. I also think most of them are already so well-renowned that nobody needed my help in having access to those movies. Thus, I proceeded a little differently by choosing lesser-known movies instead, or neglected films in the works of great filmmakers, and by forcing myself to only pick one movie by director. Finally I crossed out thirty movies on my list - in an unfair and random manner - to reach the number of fifty. Titles are sorted in the alphabetical order of the directors' names."

Bonus exclusive content

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Olivier Assayas
about L'Inferno
of Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan, Giuseppe de Liguoro
One could say that the film is the missing link between the Lumière brothers and Kenneth Anger.
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Olivier Assayas
about Adalen 31
of Bo Widerberg
Widerberg tells his film as gracefully as the Impressionist painters.
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Olivier Assayas
about California Split
of Robert Altman
C’est en plein dans le cinéma moderne de l’époque, mais y a cet amour des gens, de la nature, cet espèce d’humanisme d'Altman qui rendent ses films atemporels.
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Olivier Assayas
about Sweet Dreams
of Nanni Moretti
When I discovered this film, I was impressed by its intelligence and sense of humor. Someone from my generation was doing something that nobody could do in France.
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Olivier Assayas
about The Damned
of Luchino Visconti
A quel moment le monde d’avant s’est terminé ? J’ai l’impression que Visconti prend cette problématique de l’intérieur, à bras le corps, et d’une façon plus profonde, plus mystérieuse et moins idéologique que quiconque.
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Olivier Assayas
about L'Avventura
of Michelangelo Antonioni
Les actes fondateurs de la modernité cinématographique viennent de cinéastes qui se sont construits et constitués dans le cinéma classique