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PEOPLE France

Farewell, Patrice Chéreau

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- The famous theatre, opera and cinema director, winner in Berlin and rewarded in Cannes, died yesterday in Paris, at the age of 68

Farewell, Patrice Chéreau

A great French artistic figure left us yesterday. Patrice Chéreau died at the age of 68. A famous theatre and opera director, he also made his mark on cinema although he only directed 10 features.  

After Flesh of the Orchid (based on a story by James Hadley Chase; two nominations for the César in 1976 for Best Cinematography and Set Design) and Judith Therpauve (nominated for the César for Best Cinematography and Sound in 1979), Patrice Chéreau was selected for the first time in competition in Cannes in 1983 with the incandescent The Wounded Man (which owed him a César for Best Screenplay shared with writer Hervé Guibert). Hotel de France followed in 1987 as wall as Queen Margot which won the Prize of the Jury and the Best Actress Award (for Italian Actress Virna Lisi) on the Croisette in 1994, and also received amongst others five César (including Best Actress for Isabelle Adjani), a nomination for the Oscar for Best Costumes and one for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Feature.

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The filmmaker continued his career in cinema with three remarkable films: Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train (in competition in Cannes in 1998, 11 nominations for the César winning three titles including Best Director), Intimacy (Golden Bear in Berlin and Best Actress Award for New-Zealand actress Kerry Fox; based on the novel by British author Hanif Kureishi) and His Brother (Silver Bear for Best Director in Berlin in 2003). Finally, his last two features competed at the Venice Mostra in 2005 and 2009: Gabrielle [+see also:
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(also two César For Costumes and Set Design) and Persecution [+see also:
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.

Patrice Chéreau was also an actor in six cinema features: Danton by Polish director Andrzej Wajda (1983), Adieu Bonaparte by Egyptian director Youssef Chahine (1985), The Last of the Mohicans by American director Michael Mann (1992), Lucie Aubrac by French director Claude Berri (1997), Nearest to Heaven by Franco-American director Tonie Marshal (2002) and The Time of the Wolf by Austrian director Michael Haneke (2003).

As a reminder, when he was the president of the jury of the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, Patrice Chéreau bent the rules by awarding the Palme d’Or and the Best Director Award to Elephant by Gus Van Sant.

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(Translated from French)

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