Bertrand Tavernier

Bertrand Tavernier (25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a renowned French filmmaker whose career spanned more than five decades, encompassing roles as a director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor. Born in Lyon to Geneviève (Dumond) and René Tavernier—a publicist, writer and former president of the French PEN club—he grew up in a household where literature and resistance politics were intertwined. René’s wartime activities, publishing a resistance journal and aiding anti‑Nazi intellectuals, impressed upon young Bertrand the conviction that words could be as lethal as bullets, a belief that later shaped his moral and cinematic vision. Inspired by classic auteurs such as John Ford, William Wellman, Jean Renoir, Jean Vigo and Jacques Becker, he pledged to become a filmmaker by age thirteen, and his early exposure to the 1968 French general strike cemented his left‑wing sensibilities. After an apprenticeship with Jean‑Pierre Melville, Tavernier’s debut feature The Clockmaker (1974) earned the Prix Louis‑Delluc and a Silver Bear at Berlin, heralding a career initially marked by mysteries that gradually evolved into socially conscious dramas like Life and Nothing But, Captain Conan, and the poignant It All Starts Today. His works frequently interrogated French society, history, and human morality, earning accolades such as the Golden Bear for L’Appât (1995) and a Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Film Festival of India (2011). Beyond his filmography, Tavernier’s personal life reflected artistic collaboration; he was married to screenwriter Colo Tavernier O'Hagan (1965‑1981) and fathered two children, including director‑actor Nils Tavernier and novelist‑screenwriter Tiffany Tavernier. His death on 25 March 2021 in Sainte‑Maxime marked the end of an era, but his legacy endures through his richly layered narratives and unwavering commitment to cinematic truth.