Encyclopedia of French Film Directors

190 • CAVAGNAC, GUY
2002 Il en manque un (short)
2005 De Particulier à Particulier / UK: Hotel Harabati
(also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist)
CAVAGNAC, GUY (September 15, 1934, Paris,
France–)
After graduating from the IDHEC, he directed
three shorts on French history (Charlemagne, La
Révolution française, Napoléon) for the Encyclopaedia
Britannica and American universities (1962). He
served as an assistant director (1966 Les Ruses du
Diable, Paul Vecchiali; 1969 Sept Jours ailleurs, Marin
Karmitz; Money Money Money, José Varéla; 1970 Un
Condé / L’uomo venuto da Chicago / UK: Blood on My
Hands / USA: The Cop, Yves Boisset, France / Italy)
and shot or produced about thirty industrial fi lms
and directed reports for TV programs. Then he
collaborated with Jean Renoir on the writing and
preparation of unfi lmed (C’est la Révolution; Julienne
et son Amour) and concretized projects (1970 Le
Petit Théâtre de Jean Renoir / Il teatrino di Jean Renoir
/ USA: The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir, TV movie
theatrically released, Jean Renoir, France / Italy /
West Germany). He co-founded and ran for seventeen
years the fi lm production company Unité Trois.
From 1982 to 1989, he managed the A.C.S. (Centre
de Création Cinématographique de Toulouse),
which fi nanced sixty-six shorts and six feature fi lms.
He taught cinema at the IDHEC and in various universities
in Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Dijon.
Filmography
1974 Soldat Laforêt (also screenwriter, dialogist;
shot in 1971)
1975 La vota (short; also screenwriter, dialogist)
1981 La Fière (short; also screenwriter, dialogist)
CAVALCANTI, ALBERTO (Alberto De Almeida-
Cavalcanti / February 6, 1897, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil–August
23, 1982, Paris, France)
The son of a mathematician of Italian origin (one of
his ancestors could have been the Florentine poet
and Dante’s friend Guido Cavalcanti), he studied law
and architecture in Geneva, Switzerland. Then he
went to France after World War II and frequented
the artistic avant-garde. He entered fi lms as costume
designer (1921 El Dorado, Marcel L’Herbier) and art
director (1923 Resurrection, also assistant director,
Marcel L’Herbier, unfi nished; 1924 L’Inhumaine / UK:
The Inhuman Woman / USA: The New Enchantment,
Marcel L’Herbier; L’Inondation, Louis Delluc; 1926 Feu
Mathias Pascal / UK: The Late Mathias Pascal / USA:
The Living Dead, Marcel L’Herbier; The Little People,
George Pearson, UK). He was successively assistant
director (1924 La Galerie des Monstres / La barraca
de los monstruos, Jaque Catelain, France / Spain), editor
(1927 Voyage au Congo, documentary, Marc Allégret;
1931 Au Pays du Scalp, documentary, Robert de
Wavrin), co-screenwriter, co-adapter (1928 Tire au
Flanc, Jean Renoir; 1934 Votre Sourire, Monty Banks,
Pierre Caron), and supervisor (1928 Souvenirs de
Paris / Paris Express, short, Marcel Duhamel, Pierre
Prévert; 1934 Song of Ceylon, also sound supervisor,
Basil Wright, UK). From 1933 to 1949, he worked in
Great Britain fi rst for the GPO fi lm unit as sound
designer (1934 Granton Trawler, documentary, John
Grierson; Windmill in Barbados, documentary, Basil
Wight, UK; 1936 Night Mail, documentary, short,
also technical adviser, Harry Watt, Basil Wight, UK)
and then as producer (also for Ealing Studios since
1942) (1935 B.B.C. the Voice of Britain, documentary,
Stuart Legg, UK; Big Money, short, Pat Jackson, UK;
1936 Rainbow Dance, short, Len Lye, UK; 1937 Book
Bargain, documentary, Norman McLaren, UK, shot
in 1935; The Savings of Bill, Harry Watt, UK; 1938
North Sea, documentary, short, also screenwriter,
UK; Happy in the Morning, short, Pat Jackson, also
screenwriter, UK; Forty Million People / Health for the
Nation, documentary, short, John Monck, UK; Mony
a Piddle, animated short, Norman McLaren, Richard
Massingham, UK; N. or N.W. / North or Northwest,
short, Len Lye, UK; The City, short, Ralph Elton; 1939
Love on the Wing, animated short, Norman McLaren,
UK / Canada; Men in Danger, Pat Jackson, UK; Oh
Whiskers!, short, Brian Pickersgill, UK; Spare Time,
documentary, short, Humphrey Jennings, UK; The
First Days / A City Prepares, documentary, short, Pat
Jackson, Humphrey Jennings, Harry Watt, UK; The
H.P.O., short, Lotte Reiniger, UK; The Tocher, short,
Lotte Reiniger, UK; 1940 Spring Offensive (an Unrecorded
Victory), short, Humphrey Jennings, UK; Men of
the Lightship, documentary, short, David McDonald,
UK; Kitten on the Quay, short, Henry St. John, UK;
Squadron 992, documentary, short, Harry Watt, UK;
The Big Blockade, Charles Frend, UK; 1941 Merchant
Seamen, short, J. B. Holmes, UK; 1942 The Foreman
Went to France, Charles Frend, UK; The Greek Testament,
documentary, medium-length, Charles Hasse,
UK; 1943 Find Fix and Strike, short, Compton Bennett,