Michel Hazanavicius

Michel Hazanavicius is a French film director, screenwriter, editor, and producer renowned for his innovative storytelling and deep reverence for cinema history. Born on 29 March 1967 in Paris to a Jewish family with Lithuanian and Polish roots, his early life was shaped by a multicultural heritage that later inspired his eclectic artistic vision. After graduating from the École nationale supérieure d'arts de Cergy‑Pontoise, he entered the television world at Canal+ in 1988, where he honed his craft directing commercials for brands like Reebok and Bouygues Telecom. In 1993 he co‑directed the experimental feature La Classe américaine, a collage of Warner Bros. footage re‑edited and dubbed into French, showcasing his talent for creative remix. His first solo short, Échec au capital (1997), paved the way for his debut theatrical feature Mes amis, starring his brother Serge, and established him as a bold new voice in French cinema. The breakthrough came with the spy‑parody OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006) and its sequel OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009), both commercial successes that demonstrated his deft blend of humor and homage. However, it was the silent, black‑and‑white masterpiece The Artist (2011) that catapulted Hazanavicius to global fame, earning him the Academy Award for Best Director, among numerous other honors, and reaffirming the timeless appeal of classic Hollywood aesthetics. Beyond The Artist, he continued to explore diverse narratives, contributing to the omnibus The Players and directing The Search (2014), a modern re‑imagining of Fred Zinnemann’s 1948 film starring his wife Bérénice Bejo. Known for his meticulous attention to period detail and his ability to fuse nostalgia with contemporary sensibilities, Hazanavicius remains a pivotal figure in 21st‑century cinema, constantly pushing the boundaries of form while honoring the medium’s rich legacy.