- Demy, Jacques
- (June 5, 1931, Pontchâteau, Loire-Atlantique, France - October 27, 1990, Paris, France)A movie buff since his childhood, he bought a camera and shot a first amateur short with his brother and some of his friends (L'Aventure de Solange). Unfortunately, the film was overexposed. Then he tried another experience and filmed a stop-motion animated film with puppets (Attaque nocturne) at age seventeen. During his studies at the Launay technical college, he enrolled in evening classes at the Beaux-Arts. In 1948, he met director Christian-Jaque, who saw Attaque nocturne and encouraged him to try his luck in Paris. Having settled in Paris in 1949, he attended courses at the Ecole Technique de Photographie et de Cinématographie (Vaugirard), where he directed a short, Les Horizons morts. Then he collaborated on the shooting of Paul Grimault's animated commercials before serving as an assistant to director Georges Rouquier (1954 Arthur Honeg-ger, documentary, short; 1955 Lourdes et ses Miracles, documentary, short; 1957 S.O.S. Noronha). His first professional movies were shorts. He played small parts in films (1959 Les Quatre Cents Coups / UK and USA: The Four Hundred Blows, uncredited, François Truffaut; 1960 Paris nous appartient / UK: Paris Is Ours / USA: Paris Belongs to Us, Jacques Rivette; 1991 Jac-quot de Nantes, Jacques Demy; 1993 Les Demoiselles ont 25 Ans, documentary, Agnès Varda) and appeared as himself in documentaries (1964 Cinéastes de notre Temps, episode "La Nouvelle Vague par ele-même", André S. Labarthe, Robert Valey; 1974 Histoire du Cinéma français par ceux qui l'ont fait, Armand Panigel). He died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was married to director Agnès Varda (b. 1928). He was the father of production designer Rosalie Varda and actor Mathieu Demy (b. 1972).Filmography1953 ◘ La Belle endormie (16-mm animated short)1955 ◘ Le Sabotier du Val de Loire (documentary; short; also screenwriter)◘ Le Bel Indifférent (short; also screenwriter, voice)◘ Musée Grévin (documentary; short)◘ La Mère et l'Enfant (documentary, short; also screenwriter)◘ Ars (documentary; short; also screenwriter)◘ Lola / Donna di vita (also screenwriter, dialogist; France / Italy)◘ Les Sept Péchés capitaux / I sette peccati capitali / UK: The Seven Capital Sins / USA: The Seven Deadly Sins (segment "La Luxure" / "Lussuria" / "Luxury"; also screenwriter, dialogist; France / Italy)◘ La Baie des Anges / UK: Bay of Angels / USA: Bay of the Angels (also screenwriter, dialogist)◘ Les Parapluies de Cherbourg: Die Regenschirme von Cherbourg / USA: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (also screenwriter, dialogist, singing voice; France / West Germany)1967 ◘ Les Demoiselles de Rochefort / USA: The Young Girls of Rochefort (shot in double version; also screenwriter, dialogist, lyricist)◘ Model Shop (also screenwriter, co-dialogist, producer; USA)◘ Peau d'Âne / UK: Magic Donkey / Once upon a Time / USA: Donkey Skin (also screenwriter, dialogist, actor, lyricist)◘ The Pied Piper / The Pied Piper of Hamelin (also co-screenwriter; UK / USA)◘ L'Evènement le plus important depuis que l'Homme a marché sur la Lune / Niente di grave, suo marito è incinto / UK: A Slightly Pregnant Man (also screenwriter, dialogist, lyricist; France / Italy)1979 ◘ Lady Oscar / Berusaiyu no bara (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist; Japan)1982 ◘ Une Chambre en Ville / Camera in una città / UK and USA: A Room in Town (also screenwriter, songs)◘ Louisiane (Jacques Demy started to shoot the movie; Philippe de Broca)◘ Parking (also screenwriter, dialogist)1988 ◘ La Table tournante (animation; co-director with Paul Grimault; also co-screenwriter)◘ Trois Places pour le 26 (also screenwriter, dialogist)Television Filmography1980 ◘ La Naissance du Jour (also screenwriter, dialogist)
Encyclopedia of French film directors . Philippe Rège. 2011.