Bertrand Tavernier
Bertrand Tavernier (born 25 April 1941) is a French director, screenwriter, actor and producer.
Life and career
Tavernier was born in Lyon, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, several years president of the French PEN club. He says that his father's publishing of a wartime resistance journal and aid to anti-Nazi intellectuals shaped his moral outlook as an artist. According to Tavernier, his father believed that words were "as important and as lethal as bullets". Tavernier wanted to become a filmmaker since the age of 13 or 14 years. He claims that his cinematic influences include filmmakers John Ford, William Wellman, Jean Renoir, Jean Vigo and Jacques Becker. Tavernier was influenced by the 1968 general strike in France. He associated with the OCI between 1973 and 1975, and was particularly struck by the writing of Leon Trotsky. The first film director with whom he worked was Jean-Pierre Melville. Later, his first film (The Clockmaker, 1974) won the Prix Louis Delluc and the Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize award at the 24th Berlin International Film Festival.