An Oscar and Golden Palm winner for his masterpiece A Man and a Woman (1966) who has made over 50 films, Calude Lelouch never gets tired of bringing the most intriguing stories to the screen. His first first documentary film, Mal du siecle, was honoured with a debut Grand Prix at Cannes. At the age of 16, the talented Frenchman is already shooting commercials and works in television as a director of documentaries.
Authentic atmosphere, spontaneous acting and the virtuoso method of directing are all a trademark of Lelouch’s films, whether it is a laid-back comedy, a socially engaged film, a historic or a crime drama, these aspects are always present. Claude Lelouch also has a taste for quality acting; some of French cinema’s biggest names such as Catherine Denouve, Ive Montane, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Fanni Ardan, Jean-Claude Briali, Anouk Aimee, Jean-Louis Trintignant as well as international stars such as Jeremy Irons and Geraldine Chaplin have all been in front of his camera. However, Lelouch also likes using non-professional actors, amongst them are famous personalities such as Bernard Tapi and Patricia Kaas. Today, Claude Lelouch is a happy father of 7 children from the various women in his life. One of the loves of his life is actress Annie Girardot, with whom he gets emotionally involved during the filming of Vivre pur vivre (1967).
A retrospective of Claude Lelouch’s films was screened at the Cinema House between the 25th of February and the 3rd of March 2011.
Claude Lelouch was awarded the Sofia Municipality award for outstanding achievements in world cinema in 2011.