Swaim, Bob

(Robert Frank Swaim / November 2, 1943, Evanston, Illinois, USA-)

   Having graduated with a bachelor's degree in anthro­pology from the University of California in 1965, he came to France to work on his doctorate in ethnol­ogy. While studying at the College de France with Claude Lévi-Strauss and at L'Ecole des Langues Ori­entales, he frequented the Cinémathèque Française. In 1967, he dropped out of the university to enroll in the Ecole Nationale de la Cinématographie on the rue de Vaugirard (now Ecole Louis Lumière). His first directing efforts were shorts, commercials, and documentaries. He played small parts in films (1985 Spies Like Us, John Landis, USA; 1998 A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries / La Fille d'un Soldat ne pleure jamais, James Ivory, UK / USA / France; 2001 Who Is Bernard Tapie?, documentary, Marina Zenovich; 2005 Olé!, Florence Quentin) and TV movies (1990 Rainbow Drive, Bobby Roth, USA; 1996 J'ai Deux Amours, Caroline Huppert; 1997 Viens jouer dans la Cour des Grands, Caroline Huppert).

 Filmography

        ◘ Le Journal de Monsieur Bonnafous (short; also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist, producer)

        ◘ Autoportrait d'un Pornographe / USA: Portrait of a Pornographer (short; also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist, producer)

        ◘ Vive les Jacques (short; also screenwriter, dialogist, producer)

1977 ◘ La Nuit de Saint-Germain-des-Prés (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter)

1982 ◘ La Balance / USA: The Nark (also screenwriter, co-dialogist)

1986 ◘ Half Moon Street (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist; UK / USA)

1988 ◘ Masquerade (USA)

1992 ◘ L'Atlantide (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Italy)

1998 ◘ The Climb / Le Défi (France / New Zealand)

2004 ◘ Nos Amis les Flics (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist)

 Television Filmography

        ◘ Target of Suspicion / Parfum de Meurtre (also actor; USA / France)

        ◘ Femme de Passions

1997 ◘ Maître Da Costa (episode "Le Doigt de Dieu")

2007 ◘ La France Made in USA (documentary)