Patrice Leconte

• French director and author, born in Paris in 1947.

  “All I dreamed about was cinema. And I dreamed about drawing too… I ‘went up to Paris,’ as they say, and attended film school (the IDHEC, 1967).” The young Patrice Leconte multiplied short films and contributions to the illustrated journal Pilote. His first feature films went through comedy networks: he took the world of Gotlib to the screen in Les vécés étaient fermés de l’intérieur then that of Splendid in the cult trilogy Les Bronzés (1978–1979, 2006). With many strings to his filmic bow and with an acute flair for framing, dialogue and directing actors, Leconte explores a wide range of genres: intimate dramas (The Hairdresser's Husband with Jean Rochefort, Girl on the Bridge with Vanessa Paradis), thrillers (including adaptations of Simenon, Monsieur Hire and Maigret, starring Michel Blanc then Gérard Depardieu), animation (The Suicide Shop)…  His prolific body of work also takes the form of novels and graphic novel. In 2023, he returned to directing, this time for the theater, with Mon voisin nu.

• Les Vécés étaient fermés de l'intérieur (1976) - French Fried Vacation (1978) - French Fried Vacation 2 (1979) - Viens chez moi, j'habite chez une copine (1981) - Ma femme s'appelle reviens  (1982) - Circulez y'a rien à voir (1983) - Les Spécialistes (1985) - Tandem (1987) - Monsieur Hire (1989) - The Haidresser's Husband (1990) - Contre l'oubli (1991) - Tango (1993) - Le Parfum d'Yvonne (1994) - Lumière and Compagny (1995) - Ridicule (1996) - Les Grands Ducs (1996) - Une chance sur deux (1998) - Girl on the Bridge (1999) - The Widow of Saint-Pierre (2000) - Félix et Lola (2001) - Rue des plaisirs (2002) - The Man on the Train (2002) - Intimate Strangers (2004) - Dogora : Ouvrons les yeux (2004) - French Fried Vacation 3 (2006) - My Best Friend (2006) - Beauties at War (2008) - Voir la mer (2011) - The Suicide Shop (2012) - A Promise (2013) - Do Not Disturb (2014) - Salauds de pauvres (2019) - Maigret (2022)