Encyclopedia of French Film Directors

938 • SPAAK, CHARLES
Filmography
1948 Les Pierres du Diable (short; also screenwriter,
cinematographer, editor)
1950 Cinq Petites Choses (short; also screenwriter,
cinematographer, editor)
1952 Provinciales (short; also screenwriter, cinematographer,
editor)
1954 Un Matin d’Eté (short; also screenwriter, cinematographer,
editor)
1956 La Lettre et le Printemps (short; also screenwriter,
cinematographer, editor)
1961 Les Filles sèment le Vent / Le donne semiano il
vento / USA: The Fruit Is Ripe (also screenwriter,
adapter, screenwriter; France / Italy)
1966 Gern hab’ich die Frauen gekillt / Spie contro il
mondo / Sfi da a Glory City / Gern hab’ich die
Frauen gekillt / UK: Spy Against the World / Carnival
of Killers / USA: Killer’s Carnival (co-director
with Alberto Cardone, Robert Lynn, and Sheldon
Reynolds; Austria / Italy / France)
1970 Les Cousines / UK: Love Demons / USA: The
French Cousins / From Ear to Ear (also screenwriter,
adapter, dialogist)
Jungle Erotic / Frissons érotiques / USA: Africa
Erotica / Happening in Africa / Karen, the
Lovemaker (co-director with Zygmunt Sulistrowski;
France / Belgium / USA)
SPAAK, CHARLES (May 25, 1903, Brussels, Belgium–March
4, 1972, Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France)
Born into one of the most infl uential Belgian families,
he was the son of poet and playwright Paul Spaak,
who ran the Théâtre de la Monnaie (his mother was
a member of the Belgian senate for a while), and
brother of politician and several times minister Paul-
Henri Spaak and playwright Claude Spaak. In 1928,
he moved to Paris, where his compatriot Jacques
Feyder hired him as a secretary and gave him the
opportunity to write adaptation and intertitles of
Les Nouveaux Messieurs. He soon became one the
most famous screenwriters and dialogists of French
cinema and collaborated on more than 100 movies,
including unforgettable classics directed by Jean Grémillon
(1930 La Petite Lise; 1937 Gueule d’Amour; 1938
L’Etrange Monsieur Victor / Der merkwürdige Monsieur
Victor; 1941 Remorques / USA: Stormy Waters, shot in
1939–1941), Jacques Feyder (1934 Le Grand Jeu, 1935
Pension Mimosas; La Kermesse héroïque / USA: Carnival
in Flanders), Julien Duvivier (1935 La Bandera / UK and
USA: Escape from Yesterday; 1936 La Belle Equipe / UK
and USA: They Were Five; 1939 La Fin du Jour / UK: The
End of a Day / USA: The End of the Day; 1947 Panique /
USA: Panic), and Jean Renoir (1936 Les Bas-Fonds / UK:
Underworld / USA: The Lower Depth; 1937 La Grande
Illusion / USA: The Grand Illusion). He directed only one
movie. His two daughters, Catherine (b. 1944) and
Agnès (b. 1945), were actresses.
Filmography
1949 Le Mystère Barton (also screenwriter, adapter,
dialogist)
SPINOSA, MICHEL (1963, Marseille, Bouches-du-
Rhône, France–)
His fi rst short was an adaptation of a Chester Himes
short story co-directed by Gilles Bourdos, with
whom he founded a production company, Persona
Films. He co-wrote several of Bourdos’s movies
(1989 L’Eternelle Idole, short; 1999 Disparues, shot in
1997–1998; 2003 Inquiètudes / USA: A Sight for Sore
Eyes; 2008 Afterwards, France / Canada / Germany)
and played in Grand Bonheur (Hervé Le Roux, 1993).
Filmography
1986 Un Cadeau de Noël (short; co-director with
Gilles Bourdos; also co-screenwriter)
1987 La Rue ouverte (short; also co-screenwriter)
1990 La Jeune Fille et la Mort (short; also co-screenwriter)
1995 Emmène-moi (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist)
2000 La Parenthèse enchantée (also screenwriter,
dialogist, actor)
2007 Anna M. (also screenwriter, dialogist; shot in
2005)
STANOJEVIC, STANISLAV (December 27, 1938,
Belgrade, Serbia–)
Having trained as an architect, he settled in Paris in
the early 1960s. Also known as a plastic artist and
writer, he is above all a singular director. He authored
several books: 1985 Illustres Inconnus; 1987 Les Paroles
de l’Oeil; 1988 Twin / Jumeau; 1989 Déambulations;
1990 Eblouissements; 1991 La Dernière Visite; 1993
Lectures lunaires; 1994 Le Château d’Azay (photographs
only; text by Philippe de la Génardière); Le Secret
d’Azay No. 2. 671.994; 1995 ItalieS; 1996 RefugeS; 1999
Regards intérieurs; 2002 GaudiS et SaarinenS.; 2004 Sur
le Fil du Rasoir.