
Production
Humbert Balsan
Born 1954-08-21 · Arcachon, Gironde, France
Humbert Jean René Balsan (21 August 1954 – 10 February 2005) was a French film producer and chairman of the European Film Academy. He was known for securing financing and distribution for diverse and often challenging films. In February 2005, Balsan was found dead in the offices of his production company, Ognon Pictures, in Paris. He was known to have suffered from depression, and killed himself by hanging. Description above from the Wikipedia article Humbert Balsan, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Acting credits
7.0An expatriated French novelist returns to Paris when she learns that her childhood home is being placed on the auction block.
The Proprietor
1996
6.2Having failed in their quest for the Holy Grail, the knights of the Round Table return to Camelot, their number reduced to a mere handful. Seeing a rift developing between Lancelot and Mordred, Arthur urges his knights to bury their differences and become friends. However, the king is unaware that Lancelot is having an affair with his queen, Guinevere. Lancelot is torn between his duty to his king and his love for the queen, whilst Mordred is determined to use his infidelity to destroy him.
Lancelot of the Lake
1974
6.2A bored wife leaves her husband for an unemployed, petty criminal.
Loulou
1980
5.0The life and loves of Coco Chanel who rose from the bottom with no family or financial support and became one of the most legendary creative icons.
Chanel Solitaire
1981
6.6Based on the 2000 book of the same name by Emmanuel Carrère, it is inspired by the real-life story of Jean-Claude Romand. L'Adversaire's protagonist Jean-Marc Faure (Auteuil) pursues an imaginary career as a doctor of medicine in a plot more closely based on Romand's life and Carrère's book than was Laurent Cantet's 2001 film L'Emploi du Temps. The film was nominated for a Palme d'Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.
The Adversary
2002
5.6Jeanne Quester is a psychologist-on-the-airwaves in a radio station. She got a raw deal when she was a child.
Frequent Death
1988
6.2A strict father imposes impossible guidelines on his disabled daughter which reflect his secret and tortured life.
A Brutal Game
1983
7.0A publisher seeks information on a writer who died long ago.
Aspern
1982
5.9Victor Valance, an absent father and gambler, works with shady casino operations abroad. When he returns to Paris in need of money, he plans to take advantage that Pauline, his eldest daughter now fully responsible for the whole family, has begun to work for the Ministry of Finance. Pauline thwarts his new projects but when she realizes gangsters are looking for Victor she will put her life at risk to help him and save their family.
All Fired Up
1982
10.0A young couple: Victor is a musician, Claire is a secretary in a publishing house. Their daily life seems so disappointing, so monotonous, that they begin to spend their time daydreaming, both creating their own imaginary world. At the office, she writes the story of an heroine's imaginary life. He collects material to compose an opera which glorifies the conquistadors.
The Conquistadores
1976
5.3A crime story set in Paris about a Bonnie-and-Clyde couple -- how they got together and how they are pursued for a murder they never committed.
Thieves After Dark
1984
7.2New Yorker Ben Phillips and mysterious Léo Hoffmann are strangers who are summoned to Paris by a mutual acquaintance. Upon arrival, they meet and soon find themselves tangled in a complex mystery.
Merry-Go-Round
1981
6.9After her brother was killed by a notorious all-female pirate gang, Morag dedicates her life to bringing the murderers to justice. Soon, she has become an important member of the pirate gang and has begun acquiring the loyalty of key members. Eventually, she makes her move and challenges the leader, a demi-god, known as "The Daughter of the Sun."
Noroît (Une Vengeance)
1976
6.5After a train accident, a woman survives and is mistaken for an other woman she just met on a train before the accident.
I Married a Shadow
1983
5.8When her husband's arrest leaves her penniless, a woman accepts an invitation to move in with a strange couple.
Quartet
1981
9.0Her mother had advised her to marry to acquire respectability and material comfort, the obedient little girl married a successful Catholic writer a few years later, giving her two beautiful children, a spacious house, a few servants, and glittering social evenings. But in her thirties, Rose can no longer fall asleep at the side of her husband, who is imperturbably indifferent to her charms and neglects her, to develop, with more attentive ears, endless considerations on divine values in this world. So, in the evening, the young woman lets herself be drawn into pleasantly equivocal reveries. And if the day finds her repentant at the feet of her confessor, the night lurks again with its temptations and the virile torso of a handsome groom straight out of "Lady Chatterley's Lover", one of her clandestine reads.
Une femme au bout de la nuit
1980
4.3The story of a group of students' involvement with a group who oppose the French-Algerian war.
Liberty Belle
1983
6.3In this heady, phantasmagoric fairy tale, a young girl comes face to face with a friendly dragon and a magnanimous witch. Upon the witch granting the girl’s wish to become a young woman, this surrealist chronicle follows the precocious Camélia on a series of quests in pursuit of love.
A Dream Longer Than the Night
1976
3.7An adaptation of the novel of the same name by Julien Gracq. Four soldiers await a possible German attack on a fortified house in the forest of the Ardennes.
Un Balcon en forêt
1978
NRJune 1944. Philippe de Chassagne, alias Marceau, a secret agent for the Free French, travels to Geneva. His departure for London having been cancelled, he makes contact with Resistance fighters stationed in the Jura mountains. He has a short but wonderful affair with Béatrice, also a member of the Resistance. A bubble of happiness in the midst of the whirlwind of war.
Le Jour le plus court
1983
Behind the camera
5.0Seekers of Oblivion explores the exciting life and adventures of Isabelle Eberhardt. Born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1877, Isabelle left Europe for North Africa at a young age. While there, she consorted with tramps, prostitutes, soldiers, murderers and thieves, at times masquerading as a man in orde.
Seekers of Oblivion
2004
5.9Paul and Agnes have been going out for quite a while and Agnes is shocked to learn that he'd rather live with two roommates on campus than move in with her. As soon as he meets one of his roommates, Louis-Anault, Paul's behavior changes - he is attracted to Louis without realizing so himself. Agnes, on the other hand, gets quite jealous and offers a bet: Whoever gets to have Louis-Anault first, wins... If she does, Paul will no longer explore his homosexual desires, if he does - she'll walk away. Meanwhile, Paul meets Mecir, a young Arab worker, who shows him there's more to life than elite colleges...
Grande école
2004
6.6Santa Claus tries to outrun a gang of knife-wielding youth. It's one of several vignettes of Palestinian life in Israel - in a neighborhood in Nazareth and at Al-Ram checkpoint in East Jerusalem. Most of the stories are droll, some absurd, one is mythic and fanciful; few words are spoken. A man who goes through his mail methodically each morning has a heart attack. His son visits him in the hospital. The son regularly meets a woman at Al-Ram; they sit in a car, hands caressing. Once, she defies Israeli guards at the checkpoint; later, ninja-like, she takes on soldiers at a target range. A red balloon floats free overhead. Neighbors toss garbage over walls. Life goes on until it doesn't.
Divine Intervention
2002
7.0An expatriated French novelist returns to Paris when she learns that her childhood home is being placed on the auction block.
The Proprietor
1996
7.0A switchman at a seaside railway witnesses a murder but does not report it after he finds a suitcase full of money at the scene of the crime.
The Man from London
2008
6.5Yousry Nasrallah's powerful adaptation of Lebanese writer Elias Khoury's epic novel of fifty years of Palestinian dispossession, exile, and resistance. The film follows the flight of Younes, his wife Nahila, and those around them, from their village in northern Palestine to a refugee camp in Lebanon. Some vow to continue the struggle, most simply struggle to survive. Unsparingly detailing the impact of the nakba (disaster) on Palestinian life and society and the refugees' often-contentious relationship with their reluctant Lebanese hosts, Gate of the Sun spans generations, mixing personal stories with historical events.
The Gate of the Sun
2004
In a suburb of Paris, a group of teenagers enjoys the last days of summer vacation. They meet in cafes, restaurants or disco, talking about first love, experiences, disappointments and jealousy. Sandrine tries to figure out if she should keep her boyfriend Didier or try with silent Joel, whom she's just met. Riri, Alex and Paulo desperately try to get laid.
L'amour
1990
6.0Just before taking an irrevocable and tragic step, Caroline talks to Claire, her lycée friend. Later, Claire gathers five other school friends, and tells them Caroline's secret. The six agree to wage a guerrilla war against their philosophy teacher, the sarcastic and belittling M. Terrien, the cause of Caroline's despair. After seeking advice from Mayard, the school's guidance counselor and a leftist with a police record, the six look for evidence that could get Terrien fired. They strike gold, and then raise the stakes. Sarah, one of the six, hatches a deadly plan.
Terminale
1998
5.8The end of an affair from the woman's point of view.
After Sex
1997
5.7Bo is a transexual prostitute in Brussels who left home after being abused by her father. She's infuatuated with a neighbor and suspected by the police in a series of transexual murders. In order to clear herself she must turn detective.
Transfixed
2001
6.9A woman and her seven children live on a farm in Southern France. In spite of the hard work and the mediocre accommodation, their life would be a happy one, but for one person: the owner of the farm, an egotistic and authoritarian individual who is also the lover of the woman and the father of all her children. The farmer handles them as his property, uses them as cheap labour to work in the fields, and denies them the right to leave the farm. It is only the love of the woman for her children that allows them to endure their situation; but even for her, disenchantment has set in.
Will It Snow for Christmas?
1996
3.8"Julien Rossi wakes up in a hospital bed and finds he has no memory of the events that left him in a coma in the early hours of New Year's Day. Was he attacked? Or was his head injury caused in an accident? This is only the first of many mysteries Julien has to resolve. Who is Marl?ne, the beautiful woman who claims to be his girlfriend? Why doesn't his real girlfriend, Anna, return his calls? What made him walk out on his job as a leading investigative reporter? Julien relies on Lucas, his best friend and
A Perfect Friend
2006
5.9This big-budget historical epic from acclaimed Egyptian director Youssef Chahine features a crazed turn by Patrice Chereau as Napoleon Bonaparte. The film, an Egyptian-French co-production, deals with Napoleon's occupation of Alexandria and its effect on a typical Egyptian family. Michel Piccoli leads the cast as a general in Napoleon's army who tentatively befriends a local poet and falls in love with two young Egyptian brothers, reflecting complex themes of colonial desire, affection, and personal connection.
Adieu Bonaparte
1985
6.8In the 12th century's Andalusia lives Ibn Rushd a prominent Islamic philosopher with his wife Zeinab and daughter Salma. The principality is ruled by Khalifa ElMansour who has two sons, ElNasser, an intellectual that likes Ibn Rush and is in love with his daughter Salma. The younger son Abdallah is more into dancing and poetry, spending most of his times with the gypsy family and getting the daughter pregnant. The Khalifa is depending on the extremists to build his army granting them more power which they use to combat artists and philosophers. The extremists succeed in recruiting Abd Allah and train him to kill his father. Events go on where Marawan, the gypsy singer, is killed and Ibn Rushd's books are burnt. Adapted from the real life of Ibn Rushd AlMasir is Chahine's statement against extremism.
Destiny
1997
5.8Marie, the charming daughter of Italian immigrants, has a dream : to become rich. In Roubaix, where she lives, she meets and marries small-time crooner Marcel Potier. Together they leave for the South of France where they live happily but poorly. Now, Marie hasn't forgotten her hopes of wealth and with this aim still in mind she pushes Marcel into becoming the swimming instructor of Achille Zopoulos, an oil tycoon.
Swimming Instructor
1979
4.5Claire (Laure Marsac) is a 16-year-old young woman who discovers her father Pierre (Bernard Giraudeau) is not a healing physician but a killer with a bloody war record in the Lebanese conflict. She runs away from home and into the arms of Kamal (Michal Albertini). While Pierre stalks two terrorists, Claire and Kamal are violently confronted by Kamal's abandoned wife and family. The ravages of the conflict extend to those who are never participants in the battle but are among the casualties of war.
The Veiled Man
1987
6.3An actress, who goes all over rural France with her monologe "Sex and Crime", meets and falls in love with a man, since that moment starts helping him in his plays.
When the Sea Rises
2004
6.7Reda, summoned to accompany his father on a pilgrimage to Mecca, complies reluctantly - as he preparing for his baccalaureat and, even more important, has a secret love relationship. The trip across Europe in a broken-down car is also the departure of his father: upon arrival in Mecca, both Reda and his father are not the characters they were at the start of the movie. Avoiding the hackneyed theme of the return to the homeland, the film uses the departure to renew a connection between two generation.
The Great Journey
2004
4.9A famous, ruthless writer takes a handsome young worker, with aspirations of becoming a tightrope artist, as his lover and protege, but suffers tragic consequences when he later discards him for another youth.
Walking a Tightrope
1991
5.1Set in 1987 against the backdrop of a hunger strike by the Egyptian film industry, Chahine himself steps in to play Yehia, the famed Egyptian director whose life is chronicled in "Alexandria, Why?" and "An Egyptian Story". Obsessed with Amr, the handsome actor he discovered and cast as his alter-ego in parts one and two of The Alexandria Trilogy, Yehia pressures Amr to star in various film projects that change even as Yehia's perception of the young actor begins to change. He first casts Amr as Hamlet, which the actor deems too demanding for his talents, then as the lead in a musical biopic of demigod Alexander the Great, who founded the city of Alexandria in 332 B.C.
Alexandria Again and Forever
1989
6.5An emotionally cold man leaves the safety of his Alpine home to seek a heart transplant and an estranged son.
The Intruder
2005
No synopsis available yet.
The Surveyors of Montmarte
1993
3.6The story of a woman who decides to kill herself. She puts herself through a series of experiences that test the limits of what is humanly bearable in an ultimate attempt to find a reason to live.
Process
2004
5.4A young 15 year old girl, Lamia, lives in a southern Lebanese village on the border with Israel. She is given in marriage to her cousin on the other side of the border. As Lamia crosses the barbed wire she also passes from childhood into adulthood, as brutal as our countries and the events that are to follow.
The Kite
2004