TSPDT

Key Production Countries: France, Belgium, Italy
Key Genres: Drama, Psychological Drama, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Comedy, Romance, Gay & Lesbian Films, Erotic Drama, Romantic Drama, Coming-of-Age
Key Collaborators: Philippe Rombi (Composer), Olivier Delbosc (Producer), Eric Altmayer (Producer), Marc Missonnier (Producer), Nicolas Altmayer (Producer), Laure Gardette (Editor), Yorick Le Saux (Cinematographer), Katia Wyszkop (Production Designer), Jeanne Lapoirie (Cinematographer), Melvil Poupaud (Leading Actor), Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (Leading Actress), Charlotte Rampling (Leading Actress)

"Frequently and inaccurately described as yet another bad boy of French cinema, François Ozon is really its cheeky imp, sporting both the appearance and the directorial presence of a naughty pixie. He used to make movies, on his father's Super 8 camera, in which most of his family would take acting parts and often wind up dead. A number of critics have seized upon these films as early signifiers of a familiar trope of Ozon's - the lingering death of the nuclear unit." - Lloyd Hughes (The Rough Guide to Film, 2007)

"From Hitchcock to Fassbinder, each new genre-bending treat from François Ozon comes steeped in references to the great directors of the past… Ozon does not make the same film twice. Seventeen features into his career, the French writer-director is still exploring new genres in which to demonstrate his wit and visual trickery." - Nick Chen (BFI, 2018)

"Critics have a hard time placing François Ozon. He does not belong in the hallowed tradition of the French Nouvelle Vague, and yet his films are intimate and personal, bearing the mark of his obsessions and recurring fancies. He is hailed as the "poster boy of contemporary queer cinema", and yet his films are pleasing commercial entertainments with no blaring political agenda – and he is equally at ease with male or female, gay or straight subject matter. His films display a very solid, classical sense of storytelling craft, and yet they are mysterious, elliptical, poetic. He has been derided as representing a new, exportable, internationalised 'cinema of French quality', and yet the more one digs into his films, the more one cherishes their sly, perverse aspects." - Adrian Martin, 2004

"One of the most provocative and vibrant filmmakers to emerge during the 1990s, French director François Ozon has distinguished himself with dark, mordantly psychological films that draw their impact from Ozon's frank and often disturbing explorations of transgression and sexuality. Combining wry humor, sensitivity, and subversive insight with a talent for manipulation, Ozon has earned comparisons to Hitchcock and Chabrol, directors whose works have provided ample inspiration for the young director as he has staked out his own, impressive territory in the cinema." - Rebecca Flint Marx (Allmovie)

"If Ozon’s motion pictures are all varying in genre, content and form, they continuously challenge the rules of conventional cinema by tackling taboo issues of various kinds, including same-sex desires. Ozon does not confine himself to gay issues, but their recurrence, coupled with the director’s self-proclaimed homosexuality, make his status in French filmmaking fairly unusual, and therefore, worthy of attention." - Thibaut Schilt (Senses of Cinema, 2004)

"Throughout his career, the versatile French director François Ozon has made a wide range of films that display varying doses of outlandish comedy, transgressive sexual politics, and Hitchcockian suspense. While his movies are stylish and liberating, they also contain a poignant awareness of loss and unfulfilled desire." - Museum of the Moving Image, 2005

"One of Ozon’s defining characteristics is his exploration of human relationships and the complexities of sexuality. In films like Swimming Pool and Young & Beautiful, the director delves deep into the intimate aspects of his characters’ lives, revealing layers of vulnerability, desire, and identity. This focus on sexuality often intertwines with a sense of mystery, merging the boundaries between the real and imagined, thus pushing viewers to question the nature of reality in his narratives. Another recurring theme in his work is the transformation and rebirth of his characters, particularly women, which can be seen in The New Girlfriend, where the protagonist navigates his gender identity following his wife’s passing." - Bronze Screen Dream

"I like to make movies. I know for many of my colleagues, it’s suffering to make a movie. For me, there are difficult things. But at the same time, it’s such a pleasure to create a world, to create a story, to work with actors, with a team which helps you to create your world. It’s very exciting. If I could, I would be able to make seven films a year, but I don’t have enough time." - François Ozon (Slant Magazine, 2018)