Known for Directing
Olivier Assayas (French: [ɔlivje asajas]; born 25 January 1955) is a French film director, screenwriter and film critic. Assayas is known for his eclectic filmography, consisting of slow-burning period pieces, psychological thrillers, neo-noirs, and comedies. He has directed French, Spanish, and English-language films with international casts. 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). Description above from the Wikipedia article Olivier Assayas, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Born
January 25, 1955 (age 71)
Birthplace
Paris, France
Filmography
102 films, 10 shows


The Wizard of the Kremlin
2026 · 2h 16m
country: France
In the chaos of post-Soviet Russia, rising KGB officer Vladimir Putin joins forces with master manipulator Vadim Baranov to reshape life behind the Iron Curtain, using violence and deception to change the world forever.


Suspended Time
2024 · 1h 45m
country: France
A film director returns to his childhood home in provincial France with his brother and his girlfriend and discovers isolation to be an artistic curative.


Wasp Network
2020 · 2h 8m
country: Belgium
Havana, Cuba, 1990. René González, an airplane pilot, unexpectedly flees the country, leaving behind his wife Olga and his daughter Irma, and begins a new life in Miami, where he becomes a member of an anti-Castro organization.


Non-Fiction
2018 · 1h 47m
country: France
Alain, a successful Parisian publisher struggling to adapt to the digital revolution, has major doubts about the new manuscript of Léonard, one of his long-time authors — another work of auto-fiction recycling his love affair with a minor celebrity. Selena, Alain’s wife, a famous stage actress, is of the opposite opinion.


Personal Shopper
2016 · 1h 46m
country: Czech Republic
Maureen, mid-20s, is a personal shopper for a media celebrity. The job pays for her stay in Paris, a city she refuses to leave until she makes contact with her twin brother who previously died there. Her life becomes more complicated when a mysterious person contacts her via text message.


Clouds of Sils Maria
2014 · 2h 4m
country: France
A veteran actress comes face-to-face with an uncomfortable reflection of herself when she agrees to take part in a revival of the play that launched her career 20 years earlier.


Something in the Air
2012 · 2h 2m
country: France
During the 1970s a student named Gilles gets entangled in contemporary political turmoils although he would rather just be a creative artist. While torn between his solidarity to his friends and his personal ambitions he falls in love with Christine.


Carlos
2010 · 5h 39m
country: Germany
The story of Venezuelan revolutionary, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, who founded a worldwide terrorist organization and raided the OPEC headquarters in 1975 before being caught by the French police.


Summer Hours
2008 · 1h 43m
country: France
After the death of a septuagenarian woman, her three children deliberate over what to do with her estate.
Eldorado
Eldorado
2008 · 1h 28m
country: France
Olivier Assayas’ Eldorado is a riveting documentary chronicling the efforts of Ballet Preljocaj to choreograph an otherworldly icon of 21st century music: Karlheinz Stockhausen’s ethereal Sonntags-Abschied.


Eldorado/Sonntags Abschied: Live Performance
2008 · 42m
country: France
Live footage of the complete choreography by Angelin Preljocaj, based on Karlheinz Stockhausen's piece "Sonntags Abschied".


To Each His Own Cinema
2007 · 1h 40m
country: France
Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.


Boarding Gate
2007 · 1h 46m
country: France
A beautiful woman, Sandra, seduces a wealthy businessman, Miles Rennburg. Little does he realise that she has been sent to kill him at the behest of her boyfriend/crime partner, Lester. Controlling all this is Sue, Lester's wife.
Quartier des Enfants-Rouges
Quartier des Enfants-Rouges
2006
country: France


Paris Je T'aime
2006 · 2h
country: France
Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven and Alfonso Cuaron are among the 20 distinguished directors who contribute to this collection of 18 stories, each exploring a different aspect of Parisian life. The colourful characters in this drama include a pair of mimes, a husband trying to choose between his wife and his lover, and a married man who turns to a prostitute for advice.


Noise
2006 · 1h 55m
country: France
Footage from 2005’s Festival Art Rock in Saint-Brieuc, France, featuring Metric, Sonic Youth, Jeanne Balibar, and other acts.


Clean
2004 · 1h 51m
country: Canada
After she ends up in prison and loses custody of her son, a woman struggles to assimilate outside her former life and remain clean long enough to regain custody of her son.


Demonlover
2002 · 2h 1m
country: France
A French corporation goes head-to-head with an American web media company for the rights to a 3-D manga pornography studio, resulting in a power struggle that culminates in violence and espionage.


Sentimental Destinies
2000 · 3h
country: France
In late nineteenth century Charante, Protestant minister Jean Barnery causes local disquiet when he arranges a separation from his obsessive wife. He and his lover keep their love strong as the world changes around them.


HHH: A Portrait of Hou Hsiao-Hsien
1999 · 1h 31m
country: France
Entry on Taiwanese new-wave filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien for French television's "Cinéma, de notre temps" series, directed by Olivier Assayas.


Late August, Early September
1999 · 1h 52m
country: France
A book editor juggles relationships with two women while coping with his best friend's terminal illness.


Man Yuk: A Portrait of Maggie Cheung
1997 · 5m
country: France
An experimental cut-up portrait of Maggie Chung made by Olivier Assayas for the Foundation of Contemporary Art.


Irma Vep
1996 · 1h 39m
country: France
A has-been French filmmaker wants a Hong Kong actress to be the heroine in a rendering of Les Vampires.


Cold Water
1994 · 1h 35m
country: France
An outer suburb of Paris, 1972. Gilles and Christine, both sixteen, are classmates and lovers who have become frustrated with the aloofness of their families and the general monotony of their lives. When the pair are caught shoplifting, Christine's father ships her off to a home for emotionally disturbed children, temporarily putting space between her and Gilles. Luckily for them, though, she escapes and the couple contemplate running away together.


A New Life
1993 · 1h 57m
country: France
In a shock after her mother’s sudden death, warehouse forklift driver Tina seeks out the rich, enigmatic businessman father she has never known and discovers a half-sister, Lise.


Paris Awakens
1991 · 1h 35m
country: France
Adrien is a nineteen year old who has not seen his father, Clément, for four years. Adrien returns home and the two try to repair their relationship. Clément lives with Louise, a twenty-something woman who wants to be an actress. Adrien starts a flirtatious relationship with Louise, which strains his newfound bond with Clément.


Winter's Child
1989 · 1h 24m
country: France
Feckless aspiring architect Stéphane leaves his pregnant girlfriend for theater designer Sabine; Sabine in turn vainly attempts to overcome her violent obsession with an actor in her theater company. A game of emotional chutes and ladders ensues.


Disorder
1986 · 1h 31m
country: France
Three young friends steal some music equipment for their struggling post-punk band and, in a panic, kill the shop’s owner. The film examines, with characteristic restraint and acuity, the psychological fallout as the band unravels—and each of its members grapple with their own feelings of guilt, paranoia, and despair.


Winston Tong In Studio
1984 · 10m
country: Unknown
Winston Tong and collaborators are interviewed during a busy day at the recording studio.


Laissé inachevé à Tokyo
1982 · 21m
country: France
A young woman travels to Japan to write a novel.