Anne Fontaine

Anne Fontaine

Birthdate
July 15, 1959 (65 years old)
Place of Birth
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Known For
Directing

Details

Birthdate
July 15, 1959 (65 years old)
Place of Birth
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Known For
Directing

Biography

Anne Fontaine (born in Luxembourg, 1959) is a filmmaker and screenwriter who used to be an actor. She lives and works in France.

Born Fontaine Sibertin-Blanc, sister of actor Jean-Chrétien Sibertin-Blanc, she went as a young child to live in Lisbon, where her father, Antoine Sibertin-Blanc, is a music professor and cathedral organist. In adolescence she moved to Paris and trained in dance with Joseph Russillo while continuing her academic education, including philosophy. Her husband is Philippe Carcassonne, the film producer, and they have an adopted son who was born in Vietnam.

While still dancing, she was picked by Robert Hossein to play Esmeralda in a 1980 theatrical production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and around this time started to use the name Anne Fontaine. She continued with acting and became known for her roles in comedies like Si ma gueule vous plaît... (1981) and P.R.O.F.S.(1985). An opportunity to be assistant director came with a 1986 stage version of Céline's Voyage au bout de la nuit (Journey to the End of the Night) at the Renaud-Barrault theatre.

Fontaine's first project as solo director, Les histoires d'amour finissent mal... en général (Love Affairs Usually End Badly), won the 1993 Prix Jean Vigo (prize). In 1995, she worked with her brother on the comic Augustin. Two years later, she wrote and directed the successful Nettoyage à Sec (Dry Cleaning). This won the Best Screenplay award at the Venice Film Festival 1997 and is generally considered a milestone on Fontaine's way to becoming "an important figure in contemporary French cinema".

In 1999 the character Augustin (Jean-Chrétien Sibertin-Blanc) re-appeared in Fontaine's film Augustin, Roi Du Kung-Fu (Augustin, King of Kung-Fu). Comment j'ai tué mon père (How I Killed My Father) was released in 2001, and Nathalie... followed in 2003. The 2005 film, Entre Ses Mains (In His Hands) has been widely described as a thriller: an "intimate thriller" according to Fontaine herself. A third Augustin film, Nouvelle chance (also known as Oh La La) was released in 2006. Then came La fille de Monaco (The Girl From Monaco) in 2008 and Coco avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel), her biopic of Coco Chanel, in 2009.

Fontaine's work is not easily categorised, though the phrase "psychological drama" is often used. She told a UK newspaper, "I try to work on my characters' blind side, in a kind of Freudian way: to ask, 'What are the things about themselves that they're unaware of?' I'm fascinated by the irony of fate, when something goes into a skid. All my stories have an element of cruelty in them."

Description above from the Wikipedia article Anne Fontaine (filmmaker), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Anne Fontaine's LGBTQ+ Titles

Reinventing Marvin
Reinventing Marvin
Director

Acting (10)

2018
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché as Self
2002
A Day in the Life of French Cinema as Self
1999
Keep It Quiet as Nathalie
1998
Vivement dimanche as Self (2 episodes)
1986
Softly from Paris as Mathilde (1 episode)
1986
Softly from Paris as Sophie (1 episode)
1985
P.R.O.F.S. as Marite
1980
Tender Cousins as Justine
1980
Les Mystères de Paris as Sarah (6 episodes)
1978
The Last Romantic Lover

Directing (23)

Monique et Matisse • Director
• Director
2024
Boléro • Director
• Director
2021
Presidents • Director
• Director
2020
Night Shift • Director
• Director
2019
White as Snow • Director
• Director
2017
Reinventing Marvin • Director
• Director
2016
The Innocents • Director
• Director
2014
Gemma Bovery • Director
• Director
2013
Adore • Director
• Director
2011
My Worst Nightmare • Director
• Director
2009
Coco Before Chanel • Director
• Director
2008
The Girl from Monaco • Director
• Director
2006
Nouvelle chance • Director
• Director
2005
In His Hands • Director
• Director
2003
Nathalie... • Director
• Director
2001
How I Killed My Father • Director
• Director
1999
Augustin, King of Kung-Fu • Director
• Director
1997
Dry Cleaning • Director
• Director
1997
Love Reinvented • Director
• Director
1996
Love Reinvented • Director (1 episode)
• Director (1 episode)
1996
Night Hustler • Director
• Director
1995
Augustin • Director
• Director
1993
Love Affairs Usually End Badly • Director
• Director

Writing (20)

Monique et Matisse • Screenplay
• Screenplay
2024
Boléro • Screenplay
• Screenplay
2020
Night Shift • Screenplay
• Screenplay
2019
White as Snow • Screenplay
• Screenplay
2017
• Writer
2016
The Innocents
• Adaptation
• Dialogue
2014
Gemma Bovery • Screenplay
• Screenplay
2011
My Worst Nightmare • Screenplay
• Screenplay
2010
Chloe • Original Film Writer
• Original Film Writer
2009
Coco Before Chanel • Screenplay
• Screenplay
2008
The Girl from Monaco • Writer
• Writer
2006
Nouvelle chance • Scenario Writer
• Scenario Writer
2005
In His Hands • Writer
• Writer
2003
Nathalie... • Writer
• Writer
2001
How I Killed My Father • Writer
• Writer
1999
Augustin, King of Kung-Fu • Writer
• Writer
1997
Dry Cleaning • Screenplay
• Screenplay
1997
Love Reinvented • Writer
• Writer
1995
Augustin • Writer
• Writer