Alain Jessua

Alain Jessua began his career as assistant to directors like Max Ophüls Marcel Carne Yves Allégret and Jacques Becker before making his unique short film Léon la lune which earned him the prestigious Prix JeanVigo award in 1957 A few years later in 1963 his first feature film which became cult among moviegoers won two prizes in Cannes and also Venice La Vie à lenvers with Charles Denner and Jean Yanne in his first movie role He then went on to direct a series of successful and critically acclaimed feature films which he produced himself a rare risk in the French cinema landscape Alain Jessua is regularly honored in France and abroad His short film Léon la lune was screened at the MOMA Museum of Modern Art in New York a few years ago and Martin Scorsese cited La Vie à lenvers as one of the films that really made an impact on him Jean Tulard in his Dictionary of Cinema writes He proposes a cinema where he tackles the problems of our time and makes cries of alarm Alain Jessua is also the author of six novels