Cohn, Bernard

(November II, 1940, Paris, France - )

   After completing his studies in modern letters, he dedicated his life to cinema. He translated from Eng­lish detective novels and cinema books, collaborated on the compiling of the Dictionnaire du Cinéma Bordas (1962), co-wrote a book on the western film genre (1966), published articles in Les Lettres Françaises and Les Nouvelles Littéraires, and authored a dictionary of cinematic technical terms (Editions Edena, 1982) and a dictionary of criticism (Editions Ramsay, 1997). He entered films as a trainee assistant director for films (1969 La Voie lactée / La via lattea / La via lactea / Die Milchstrasse / USA: The Milky Way, Luis Bunuel, France / Italy / Spain / West Germany) before working as second assistant director (1971 L'Araignée d'Eau, Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe, shot in 1968; Blanche, Walerian Borowczyk; 1972 Une Belle Fille comme moi / UK: A Gorgeous Bird Like Me / USA: Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me, François Truffaut; 1974 Lancelot du Lac / Lancil-lotto e Ginevra / UK: The Grail / USA: Lancelot of the Lake, Robert Bresson; 1975 Love and Death, Woody Allen, USA; 1981 Exil, 7 X 60' TV miniseries, Egon Gunther, West Germany) and first assistant director for films (1972 Le Grand Départ, Martial Raysse; 1974 Les Couples du Bois de Boulogne / Canada: Men and Women of the Bois de Boulogne / US DVD: The Couples of Bois de Boulogne, Christian Gion; 1975 Rosebud, Otto Preminger, USA; 1976 Un Enfant dans la Foule, Gérard Blain; 1977 Sorcerer / Wages of Fear, William Friedkin, USA; 1978 Who Is Killing the Great Chiefs of Europe? / Someone Is Killing the Great Chiefs of Europe / La Grande Cuisine / Qualcuno sta uccidendo i più grandi cuochi d'Europa / Ein Kochtopf voller Leichen / Die Sch-lemmeorgie / UK: Too Many Chiefs, Ted Kotcheff, USA / France / Italy / West Germany; 1979 Concorde / The Concorde:Airport '79 / Airport '79:The Concorde, David Lowell Rich, USA; 1981 Murder Obsession (Follia omi-cidia) / L'ossessione che uccide / UK: The Wailing / Fear / Delirium / USA: Murder Syndrome, Robert Hampton = Riccardo Freda, Italy / France; Dr. Jekyll et les Femmes, Walerian Borowczyk; 1985 Ran, Akira Kurosawa, Ja­pan / France; 1986 Max mon Amour / Makkusu, mon amûru / Max My Love, Nagisa Oshima, France / Japan / USA; 1995 Jusqu'au Bout de la Nuit, Gérard Blain) and TV (1984 Deux Filles sur un Banc, Alain Ferrari; Les Cerfs-volants, Pierre Badel, France / Canada; 1992 La Fortune de Gaspard, Gérard Blain). He appeared as an actor in a couple of Jean Yanne's comedies (1972 Tout le Monde il est beau tout le Monde il est gentil / Questo nostro simpatico mondo di pazzi, France / Italy; 1973 Moi yen a vouloir des Sous / Dacci oggi i nostri soldi quo-tidiani, France / Italy) and co-wrote two documenta­ries (1996 Milice, Film noir, Alain Ferrari; 2001 Autopsie d'un Mensonge—Le Négationnisme, Jacques Tarnero). Besides his fiction films, he shot commercials and reports for the FR3 TV channel on sports, literature, music, and painting. He taught on an assistantship the history of cinema at the E.S.E.C., E.S.R.A., E.S.C.A.R., IDHEC, and Fémis.

 Filmography

1969 ◘ La Boîte (short; also screenwriter, dialogist)

1989 ◘ Natalia (also screenwriter, co-adapter, dialogist; shot in 1987)

 Television Filmography

2001 ◘ Autopsie d'un Mensonge: Le Négationnisme (documentary)

2003 ◘ Positif, une Revue (documentary; also screenwriter)

        ◘ Edith Scob, une Comédienne si étrange (documentary; also screenwriter)