Claude Berri

Claude Berri 1 July 1934 12 January 2009 was a French film director producer screenwriter distributor and actor Berri was a leading figure of the French film industry both a director and as a producer Following a short film that won an Academy Award Berri achieved success with his first feature film The Two of Us 1967 He then had a varied career producing and distributing both mainstream and avantgarde films During the 1970s Berris films as a director were mostly comedies but he later found increased success with several highprofile literary adaptations In 1986 his twopart film Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring won public and critical acclaim becoming his bestknown work He next directed Uranus 1990 and most notably Germinal 1993 In 1997 he directed the historical biopic Lucie Aubrac Directors whose films were produced by Berri include Roman Polanski Jacques Demy JeanJacques Annaud Claude Sautet Miloš Forman Claude Zidi Jacques Rivette Patrice Chéreau Alain Chabat Abdellatif Kechiche and Dany Boon Born Claude Beri Langmann in Paris Berri was the son of Jewish immigrant parents His mother Beila née Bercu was from Romania and his father Hirsch Langmann was a furrier from Poland In 1943 during the Nazi occupation of France Berris parents entrusted him for his safety to a family in the countryside He spent the rest of the occupation being fostered by an antisemitic couple who were unaware that he was Jewish His sister screenwriter and editor Arlette Langmann was born after the war Berris original vocation was to be an actor He began a career in the early 1950s but struggled to find roles which prompted him to turn to directing and eventually producing In 1965 he gained notice for The Chicken which won the Award for best short film at the 38th Academy Awards In 1967 Berri directed The Two of Us Le Vieil homme et lenfant a partially autobiographical film that told the story of a Jewish child entrusted during World War II to a benevolent and antisemitic old farmer who remains unaware that the boy he is caring for is a Jew The film was a great success in France and abroad Berri also adapted the story into a novel released the same year as the film During the years that followed Berri became active as a producer and film distributor while continuing to direct his own films Also in 1967 with his associate later brotherinlaw JeanPierre Rassam Berri bought the international distribution rights for Miloš Formans The Firemens Ball which was a great success and was nominated to the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film Berris company Renn Productions which he had founded to produce The Two of Us gradually became a major player in the French film industry Source Article Claude Berri from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA