Alain Tanner (6 December 1929 – 11 September 2022) was a Swiss film director.

Early years and education

Tanner was born in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, and studied economics at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

. In 1951, he joined the film club which Claude Goretta had recently established at the university. After his graduation and a short time working for international shipping companies in London, he continued feeling drawn to film.

Film career

Tanner found work at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

in 1955, subtitling, translating, and organizing the archive. His first film, '' Nice Time'' (1957), a short documentary film about

Piccadilly Circus Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End of London, West End in the City of Westminster. It was built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with Piccadilly. In this context, a ''List of road junctions in the Unite ...

during weekend evenings, was made with Claude Goretta. Produced by the British Film Institute Experimental Film Fund, it was first shown as part of the third Free Cinema programme at the National Film Theatre in May 1957. The debut film won a prize at the film festival in Venice and much critical praise. Tanner went to France for a while where he assisted with several commercial films. There, he met some of the most important directors of the

French New Wave The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French European art cinema, art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentat ...

in Paris as well as Henri Langlois, the director of the

Cinémathèque Française A cinematheque is an archive of films and film-related objects with an exhibition venue. Similarly to a book library (bibliothèque in French), a cinematheque is responsible for preserving and making available to the public film heritage. Typically ...

. But the atmosphere in the film circles of Paris displeased him; he described it as "cutthroat." Between 1960 and 1968, Tanner returned to Switzerland, and he made more than 40 films as well as documentaries for French-language television there. In 1962, he became the co-founder of the Swiss young filmmakers' "Groupe Cinque." His first feature film, '' Charles, Dead or Alive'' (1969), won the first prize at the international film festival in Locarno. His next two films, '' La Salamandre'' (1971) and '' Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000'' (1976), were made in close collaboration with the art critic and novelist

John Berger John Peter Berger ( ; 5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel '' G.'' won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism '' Ways of Seeing'', written as an accompaniment to t ...

, who had also worked with him, to a lesser degree and without a credit, on the writing of ''Charles''. Influenced by his involvement with the British Free Cinema movement in London and with the French New Wave during his years in Paris, Tanner is best known for his movies '' Jonas qui aura 25 ans en l'an 2000'' (''Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000''), '' Messidor'' and '' Dans la ville blanche'' (''In the White City''). ''Dans la ville blanche'', starring Bruno Ganz and shot in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival. '' Light Years Away'', his only English language film shot in Ireland, won the Grand Prix Prize at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.

Personal life and death

Tanner and his wife, Janine, had two children. He died at a hospital in Geneva on 11 September 2022, aged 92.

Filmography

*'' Nice Time'' - 1957 *'' Ramuz, passage d'un poète'' - 1961 *'' L'École'' - 1962 *'' The Apprentices'' (Les Apprentis) - 1964 *'' A City at Chandigarh (Une ville à Chandigarh)'' - 1966 *'' Docteur B., médecin de campagne'' - 1968 *'' Charles, Dead or Alive (Charles mort ou vif)'' - 1969 *'' The Salamander (La Salamandre)'' - 1971 *'' Return from Africa (Le Retour d'Afrique)'' - 1972 *'' The Middle of the World (Le Milieu du monde)'' - 1974 *'' Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (Jonas qui aura 25 ans en l'an 2000)'' - 1976 *'' Messidor'' - 1979 *'' Light Years Away (Les Années lumière)'' - 1981 *'' In the White City (Dans la ville blanche)'' - 1983 *'' No Man's Land'' - 1985 *'' A Flame in My Heart (Une flamme dans mon cœur)'' - 1987 *'' The Ghost Valley (La vallée fantôme)'' - 1987 *'' The Woman from Rose Hill (La Femme de Rose Hill)'' - 1989 *'' The Man Who Lost His Shadow (L'Homme qui a perdu son ombre)'' - 1991 *'' The Diary of Lady M (Le journal de Lady M)'' - 1993 *'' Men of the Port (Les Hommes du port)'' - 1995 *'' Fourbi'' - 1996 *'' Requiem'' - 1998 *'' Jonah and Lila, Till Tomorrow (Jonas et Lila, à demain)'' - 1999 *'' Fleurs de sang'' - 2002 *'' Paul s'en va'' - 2004

References

External links

*
Alain Tanner
at th
Swiss Film Directory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanner, Alain 1929 births 2022 deaths Film people from Geneva French-language film directors Swiss expatriates in England Swiss expatriates in France Swiss-French people Swiss film directors University of Geneva alumni