Encyclopedia of French Film Directors

6 • ALARD, PHILIPPE
1995 L’Algérie dévoilée (documentary; also screenwriter)
2002 Enfants d’Octobre (documentary; also screenwriter)
2004 Jean Sénac, le Forgeron du Soleil (documentary;
also screenwriter)
ALARD, PHILIPPE (October 21, 1962, Rennes,
Ille-et-Vilaine, France–)
He studied economics and communication. At age
twenty-two, he began to fi lm on Super 8 his native
Brittany. With the little help of a few friends, he shot
on the same format his fi rst feature fi lm. Two commercial
failures later, he specialized in shooting of
trailers. He also co-wrote a movie directed by Christian
Vincent (1992 Beau Fixe).
Filmography
1991 Villa Beausoleil (also co-screenwriter, editor)
1993 Villégiature (also co-screenwriter)
ALBERT, FLEUR (May 17, 1972, Montaigu, Vendée,
France–)
She studied modern letters before meeting documentary
director Jean-Michel Carré, who produced
her fi rst fi lm. She also was assistant to Jean-Luc
Godard (2001 Eloge de l’Amour, France / Switzerland;
shot in 1999) and to Laure Marsac (2004 Une Star
internationale, short).
Filmography
2000 L’Eau du Bain (documentary-fi ction; short)
2005 Le Silence des Rizières (documentary; also
screenwriter)
2008 Ecchymoses (documentary; also screenwriter)
Television Filmography
1995 The Next Generation (documentary; short )
2002 Clarisse est partie (documentary; short)
2005 Home Swiss Home (documentary; short)
ALBICOCCO, JEAN-GABRIEL (Jean-Gabriel
Fernand Joseph Albicocco / February 15, 1936,
Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France–April 10, 2001, Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil)
The son of art photographer and cinematographer
Quinto Albicocco, he was still a child when he began
to photograph. At age twelve, he presented his fi rst
amateur fi lm to the Prince of Monaco. Settled in Paris,
he had an excellent teacher (his father) and learned
the job of cameraman working on several shorts (1953
La Dôt de Sylvie, Armand Chartier; 1954 Croissance de
Paris, Marcel Gibaud; 1955 Une Lettre pour vous, André
Vetusto; 1961 Madame se meurt, Jean Cayrol, Claude
Durand).Then he took part in a polar expedition with
documentary director Marcel Ichac. He was briefl y
an assistant director (1957 Celui qui doit mourir / Colui
che deve morire / USA: He Who Must Die, Jules Dassin,
France / Italy; Pas de Grisbi pour Ricardo, Henry Lepage).
After his military service in the French army’s
Cinematographic Service, he directed in 1959 shorts
for US TV (Bonsoir). In 1961 he married the young star
of his fi rst feature fi lm, Marie Laforêt. Discouraged by
the commercial and critic failures of his last works, he
left France in the early 1980s for settling in Brazil, a
country he discovered when he wrote and produced
two Pierre Kast shorts (1968 Bandeira Branca de Oxala;
1969 Macumba, documentary). Unfortunately, he died
totally forgotten and penniless in his new country. In
June 1968, he co-created the French Directors Society
(SRF) and, the following year, the Cannes Film
Festival’s Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.
Filmography
1954 Ténèbre (short; also screenwriter)
1957 Ciel bleu (short; also screenwriter)
Les Essais (short; also screenwriter)
1961 Nemausus (short; also screenwriter)
La Fille aux Yeux d’Or / La ragazza dagli occhi
d’oro / USA: The Girl with the Golden Eyes (also
co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Italy)
1963 Le Rat d’Amérique / Il sentiero dei disperati /
USA: Rat Trap (also screenwriter, co-adapter,
cinematographer; France / Italy)
1967 Le Grand Meaulnes / UK and USA: The Wanderer
(also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, codialogist;
France / Italy)
1970 Le Coeur fou (also screenwriter)
1971 Emmanuelle et ses Amours / UK: Hot Pants (codirector
with Thomas Fandl, Sachiko Hidari,
Gunnar Höglund; episode “Faire L’Amour”;
France / West Germany / Japan; shot in 1968)
Le Petit Matin (also co-screenwriter, coadapter)
ALBOU, KARIN (March 12, 1968, Paris, France–)
She studied cinema, modern letters, acting, dancing,
Hebrew, Arabian civilization, and literary Arabic
before attending a fi lm school where she learned
directing (EICAR) and was briefl y a second assistant
editor (1994 Carences, short, David Rozenberg).