Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch (born 30 October 1937) is a French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1960s. Lelouch gained critical acclaim for his 1966 romantic melodrama film A Man and A Woman. At the 39th Academy Awards in 1967, A Man and a Woman won Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film. Lelouch was also nominated for Best Director. While his films have gained him international recognition since the 1960s, Lelouch's methods and style of film are known for attracting criticism. Lelouch was born in the 9th arrondissement of Paris to Charlotte (née Abeilard) and Simon Lelouch. His father was born to an Algerian Jewish family while his mother was a convert to Judaism. Lelouch says that his first contact with cinema was very young: "My mother hid me in movie theaters when I was little. We were wanted by the Gestapo. [...] Cinema, for starters, saved my life." Of his personal faith, he says "Today I believe in God. My faith was sparked when I made a film in Israel. Over there, it is impossible not to believe in God. I loved the places of worship of all the religions. Everything which happens is for the best. I sometimes have the feeling that my inspiration comes from heaven. I think it is wonderful to be Jewish." His father bought him a camera as a fresh start after his failure in the baccalaureat. He started his career with a reportage – one of the first to film daily life in the Soviet Union, with the camera hidden under his coat as he made his personal journey. He also filmed sporting events, like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Tour de France. Lelouch served in the French Army working in the film unit where he made over 100 films. He was demobilized in 1960. His first full-length film as director, Le Propre de l'homme, was decried by the critics: "Claude Lelouch, remember this name well, because you will not hear it again" – Cahiers du cinéma said. La femme spectacle (1963), following prostitutes, women shopping, going for nose-jobs, was censored for its misogynist tendency. A Man and a Woman changed his fortunes and was met with favour even by the Cahiers group. The 1981 musical epic Les Uns et les Autres is widely considered as his masterpiece, and his credits now add up to 50 or so films. His 1976 film, C'était un rendez-vous purportedly features a Ferrari 275 GTB being driven at extreme speed through the streets of Paris at dawn. The entire short is shot from the point of view of the car. Legend has it that Lelouch was arrested after it was first shown publicly. In a 2006 interview, Lelouch stated that he drove his own Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 in the film and created a soundtrack of the radically different sounding Italian sports car for effect. He collaborated more than two dozen times with composer Francis Lai. They scored a great hit with the theme song for the film A Man and a Woman sung by Nicole Croisille and Pierre Barouh, and more than 300 versions of the song exist. In 1993 he was the president of the jury at the 18th Moscow International Film Festival. ... Source: Article "Claude Lelouch" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Filmography

• 2024At the End of the Day — Producer, Director, Writer
• 2023De la piste aux étoiles — Self - Director, Thanks
• 2022Belmondo: The Incorrigible
• 2022Charlotte Rampling, le cinéma comme un essentiel — Lui-même
• 2022Love Is Better Than Life — Director, Writer
• 2022Shoot to Live — Self, Producer
• 2021Bernard, Albert et l'Empereur — Claude Lelouch
• 2021Hossein, Ronet, Trintignant : Confidences de trois acteurs inoubliables
• 2020Le Grand Rendez-Vous — Director, Writer
• 2019Dance of Chance — Director, Producer, Writer
• 2019The Best Years of a Life — Director, Producer, Screenplay
• 2017Everyone's Life — Director, Writer, Producer
• 2015Un + une — Director, Writer, Producer
• 2014We Love You, You Bastard — Director, Screenplay, Producer
• 2011D'un film à l'autre — Narrator (voice), Writer, Producer, Director
• 2010What War May Bring — Director, Writer, Producer
• 2007Crossed Tracks — Director, Screenplay, Producer
• 2007Our Earthmen Friends — Producer
• 2007To Each His Own Cinema — Director
• 2005The Courage to Love — Director, Screenplay
• 2004Le genre humain - 1ère partie: Les Parisiens — Director
• 2002And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen... — Director, Screenplay, Producer
• 2002September 11 — Director, Writer
• 1999One 4 All — Self, Director, Writer, Producer
• 1998Chance or Coincidence — Director, Writer
• 1996Men, Women: A User's Manual — Director, Screenplay
• 1995Les Miserables — Director, Writer, Producer, Director of Photography
• 1995Lumière & Company — Director
• 1993All That... for This?! — Director, Writer, Producer, Director of Photography
• 1992Plan-Séquence — Director, Writer, Cinematography
• 1992The Beautiful Story — Director, Dialogue, Writer
• 1991The King of Ads — Director
• 1990There Were Days... and Moons — Director, Writer
• 1988Itinerary of a Spoiled Child — Director, Writer, Producer
• 1987Bandits — Director, Writer, Producer
• 1987Happy New Year — Man on Train, Original Film Writer
• 1986A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later — Director, Screenplay
• 1985Going and Coming Back — Director, Screenplay
• 1984Long Live Life — Claude Lelouch (uncredited), Director, Story, Writer
• 1983Edith and Marcel — Director, Writer
• 1981Bolero — Director, Writer, Producer
• 1981Il a besoin — Director
• 1980Alors... Heureux ? — Producer
• 1979Heart to Heart — Le metteur en scène
• 1979Us Two — Director, Screenplay
• 1978Molière — Producer
• 1978Robert et Robert — Director, Writer, Producer
• 1977Another Man, Another Chance — Director, Writer
• 1977Türkiye — Supervising Producer
• 1976A Second Chance — Director, Writer
• 1976Rendezvous — The Driver (uncredited), Director, Writer
• 1976The Good and the Bad — Director, Screenplay, Producer
• 1975Cat and Mouse — Producer, Director, Screenplay
• 1974And Now My Love — Director, Screenplay
• 1974Marriage — Director, Screenplay
• 1973Far West — Psychiatrist (uncredited)
• 1973Happy New Year — Producer, Director, Screenplay, Original Story
• 1973Visions of Eight — Narrator, Director
• 1972Money Money Money — Director, Screenplay
• 1971Iran — Director, Producer
• 1971It Only Happens to Others — Producer
• 1971Smic, Smac, Smoc — Hooligan, Director, Writer
• 1971The Blood — Executive Producer
• 1970Earth Light — Producer
• 1970The Crook — Director, Story, Dialogue, Screenplay, Director of Photography
• 1969Les Gauloises bleues — Producer
• 1969Life Love Death — Director, Author
• 1969Love Is a Funny Thing — Director
• 196813 Days in France — Director
• 1967Far from Vietnam — Director
• 1967Live for Life — Director, Screenplay, Editor
• 1966A Man and a Woman — Producer, Director of Photography, Screenplay, Editor
• 1966Les grands moments — Director
• 1965For a Yellow Jersey — Director, Camera Operator, Director of Photography
• 1965To Be a Crook — Director, Author, Editor, Producer, Camera Operator
• 1964In the Affirmative — Editor, Director of Photography, Writer
• 1964Night Women — Director
• 1961The Right of Man — Claude, Director, Dialogue
• 1957The War of Silence — Director, Writer
• 1957When the Curtain Rises — Director
• 1956Le Psychodrame — Camera Operator
• 24 heures d'amants — Director
• L'incroyable fertilité du chaos — Director
• The Seacrets — Co-Producer, Executive Producer
• Un moment pour tout — Director, Writer, Producer

Appearances as themselves (71)

• 2026L'Œuvre invisible — Self
• 2026À la poursuite de Claude Lelouch — Self - filmmaker
• 2025Bardot — Self
• 2025Claude Lelouch, la vie en mieux — Self
• 2025Jacques Villeret, drôlement tragique — Self
• 2025Je m'appelle Régine et je vous emmerde ! — Self : Réalisateur
• 2025La Saga du Napoléon d'Abel Gance — Self - filmmaker
• 2025The Legend of the Palme d’Or Continues — Self
• 2025The Original+ — Self - Audience Member
• 2024Conversation avec Claude Lelouch — Self - subject
• Messi: The Cannes Film Festival from a Dog's Eye View — Self - Guest
• Beau geste — Self
• 2023Claude Lelouch - Le symphonique — Self
• 2023Re-belles — Self
• 2022Deneuve, la reine Catherine — Self (archive footage)
• 2022Jean-Louis Trintignant - Mysterious and Elusive — Self
• The A Talks — Self - Guest
• The Unexpected Getaway — Self
• 2021Poumon Vert et Tapis Rouge — Self
• 2021Resistencia Cultural — Self (archive footage)
• 2021Trintignant by Trintignant — Self (archive footage)
• 2020Annie Girardot selon son cœur — Self - Réalisateur
• 2020Deauville et le rêve américain — Self
• 2020Les Misérables et Victor Hugo : au nom du peuple — Self
• 2019Bolero: A Global Hit — Self (archive footage)
• 2019Boléro, le refrain du monde — Self (archive footage)
• 2019Jean-Marie fête Bigard — Self
• 2018Cannes 1968, révolution au palais — Self
• The Secret Song — Self
• 2016Belmondo by Belmondo — Self (uncredited)
• 2016Bécaud, mon père — Self
• Vintage Mecanic — Self - Guest
• Call My Agent! — Self
• Top Gear France — Self - Guest
• Clique — Self - Guest
• 2012Anouk Aimée, la beauté du geste — Self
• 2012Jean-Louis Trintignant, pourquoi que je vis — Self
• 2012Lino, il n'était que lui-même — Self
• 2011Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde — Self (archive footage)
• 2011Belmondo, itinéraire... — Self
• C à vous — Self - Guest
• Empreintes — Self
• 2006A Film About Mikhail Kalatozov — Self
• Le Cercle — Self
• Day for Night in Paris — Self - Director
• 2002A Day in the Life of French Cinema — Self
• The Apartment — Self - Guest
• 2001Who Is Bernard Tapie? — Self
• 1999Jean-Pierre Aumont, charme et fou-rires — Self
• Le Grand Tralala — Self
• Tout le monde en parle — Self
• Vivement dimanche — Self
• Vivement dimanche prochain — Self
• Nulle part ailleurs — Self
• Sacrée soirée — Self
• Télématin — Self
• Victoires de la musique — Self
• Champs-Elysées — Self
• 1978Catherine Deneuve by Chance, or, A Certain Blondeness — Self
• Ciné regards — Self
• Cérémonie des César — Self - President
• Les Rendez-vous du dimanche — Self
• Midi Première — Self
• Spécial cinéma — Self
• Le Grand Échiquier — Self
• Midi trente — Self
• Samedi soir — Self
• Pour le plaisir — Self
• Discorama — Self
• Reflets de Cannes — Self
• The Oscars — Self