Olivier Assayas

The son of filmmaker Jacques Rémy, Assayas began his career as a critic for Cahiers du Cinéma. There he wrote about world cinema and its film auteurs, who later influenced his work. Assayas made several short films, and made his feature debut with Disorder in 1986. He continued directing feature films, with Cold Water (1994) considered a breakthrough film in his career. It was his first film to screen at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. His followup film, Irma Vep (1996), also screened at Cannes, while Sentimental Destinies (2000), Demonlover (2002), and Clean (2004) all officially competed for the Palme d'Or. In 2006, he contributed a short film to the anthology film Paris, je t'aime (2006). Assayas gained acclaim for his dramas Summer Hours (2008), Clouds of Sils Maria (2014), and Personal Shopper (2016); the latter won him the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director. He also directed the comedy Non-Fiction (2018) and the spy thriller Wasp Network (2019).

Olivier Assayas studied at Beaux-Arts de Paris and Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3. The recorded working language is French. Residence is recorded at Paris. Employment is recorded with Cahiers du cinéma. Positions recorded include president. Work by Olivier Assayas is recorded in the collections of Museum of Modern Art. Distinctions recorded are Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film, New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film, National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film and Louis Delluc Prize.

• Name — Olivier Assayas • Born — 25 January 1955 • Birthplace — Paris, France • Occupation — Film director, screenwriter, film critic • Years Active — 1977–present • Partner — Mia Hansen-Løve (2002–2017) • Children — 1 • Parents — Raymond Assayas and Catherine de Károlyi • Relatives — Michka Assayas (brother)

Assayas was born in Paris, France, the son of French director/screenwriter Raymond Assayas, alias Jacques Rémy, and Catherine de Károlyi, a fashion designer. His father was of Turkish-Jewish origin and had settled in Italy before France. His mother was Protestant and of Hungarian origin. Assayas started his career in the industry by helping his father, ghost-writing episodes for television shows his father was working on when his health failed. In a 2010 interview, Assayas said his main political influences when growing up were Guy Debord and George Orwell. Of the 1968 May uprising to overthrow Charles de Gaulle, Assayas said: "I was defined by the politics of May '68, but for me May '68 was an anti-totalitarian uprising. People seemed to forget that at the occupied Odéon theater, you had crossed flags-black and red, and I was on the side of the black element." Assayas's biggest hit to date is Irma Vep, starring Maggie Cheung. It is a tribute to both French director Louis Feuillade and Hong Kong cinema. While working at Cahiers du cinéma, Assayas wrote lovingly about both European and Asian film directors he admired. He has made a documentary, HHH: A Portrait of Hou Hsiao-hsien, about Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien. Assayas married Cheung in 1998. They divorced in 2001, but their relationship remained amicable. In 2004, she starred in his film Clean. He met actress-director Mia Hansen-Løve when Hansen-Løve, 17 at the time, starred in Assayas's 1998 feature Late August, Early September. He has said they "didn't get together until [she] was 20". They separated in 2017. In 2009 and 2010, Assayas signed two petitions in support of director Roman Polanski, who had been detained in Switzerland while traveling to a film festival in relation to his 1977 sexual abuse charges in the United States and had long been in exile from the United States. The first petition argued that the detention would undermine the tradition of film festivals as a place for works to be shown "freely and safely". It said that arresting filmmakers traveling to neutral countries could open the door "for actions of which no-one can know the effects". Assayas directed and co-wrote the 2010 French television miniseries Carlos, about the life of the terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez. Venezuelan actor Édgar Ramírez won the César Award for Most Promising Actor in 2011 for his performance as Carlos. In April 2011, it was announced that Assayas would be a member of the jury for the main competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Assayas's 2012 film Something in the Air was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. Assayas won the Osella for Best Screenplay at Venice. His 2014 film Clouds of Sils Maria was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Sils Maria won the Louis Delluc Prize and garnered six César Award nominations, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. Kristen Stewart won a César Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2016, Assayas won Best Director Award (Cannes Film Festival) for Personal Shopper, which also starred Stewart. In June 2017, it was announced that Assayas would preside over the 2017 Locarno Film Festival.

• Year — Title — Director — Screenwriter — Notes • 1982 — Étoiles et toiles — Documentary • 1994 — Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge... — TV series • 1997 — Cinéma, de notre temps — Episode: HHH - Un portrait de Hou Hsiao-hsien • 2006 — Noise — Documentary • 2007 — To Each His Own Cinema — Segment: "Recrudescence" • 2007 — Stockhausen / Preljocaj Dialogue — Documentary • 2008 — Eldorado • 2010 — Carlos — miniseries • 2022 — Irma Vep

• | Year — | Title — |Director — |Screenwriter — | Distribution • 1986 — Disorder — Forum Distribution • 1989 — Winter's Child — Ciné Classic • 1991 — Paris Awakens — Pan-Européenne • 1993 — A New Life — Pyramide Distribution • 1994 — Cold Water — Pan-Européenne • 1996 — Irma Vep — Haut et Court • 1998 — Late August, Early September — PolyGram Film Distribution • 2000 — Sentimental Destinies — Pathé Distribution • 2002 — Demonlover — SND Films • 2004 — Clean — ARP Sélection • 2006 — Paris, je t'aime — Segment: "Quartier des Enfants Rouges" La Fabrique de Films • 2007 — Boarding Gate — ARP Sélection • 2008 — Summer Hours — MK2 Films • 2012 — Something in the Air • 2014 — Clouds of Sils Maria — Les Films du Losange • 2016 — Personal Shopper • 2018 — Non-Fiction — Ad Vitam Distribution • 2019 — Wasp Network — Netflix • 2024 — Suspended Time • 2025 — The Wizard of the Kremlin As a writer only • Passage secret (1985) • Rendez-vous (1985) • L'Unique (1986) • Scene of the Crime (1986) • Avril brisé (1987) • Filha da Mãe (1990) • Alice and Martin (1998) • Based on a True Story (2017) - Co-written with Roman Polanski

• Year — Title — Director — Screenwriter — Notes • 1978 — Nuit féline — Short film • 1979 — Copyright — Short film • 1980 — Rectangle - Deux chansons de Jacno — Short film • 1980 — Scopitone — Short film • 1982 — Laissé inachevé à Tokyo — Short film • 1984 — Winston Tong en studio — Short documentary • 1998 — Man Yuk: A Portrait of Maggie Cheung — Short documentary