--- name: "Barbet Schroeder" canonical: "https://film.one/person/barbet-schroeder" fi1m_id: "barbet-schroeder" imdb_id: "nm0775447" tmdb_id: 23393 wikidata_id: "Q504627" roles: ["Director","Producer"] born: "26 August 1941" reviewed_on_fi1m: 5 average_fi1m_score: 82 average_as: "director" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-27T09:15:29.946286+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Barbet Schroeder ## Identity Barbet Schroeder - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/barbet-schroeder - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** barbet-schroeder - **IMDb ID:** nm0775447 - **TMDB ID:** 23393 - **Wikidata ID:** Q504627 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbet_Schroeder, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q504627, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0775447/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/23393 Director and producer. Born 26 August 1941 in Tehran, Iran. ## Details - **Work:** Director, Producer - **Born:** 26 August 1941, Tehran, Iran - **Active:** 1963–2007 - **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 1 acting, 2 directing, 2 producing - **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination - **Average Fi1m score:** 82, as director, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 81 (1), 1970s 86 (1), 1990s 70 (2), 2000s 88 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbet_Schroeder, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q504627, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0775447/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/23393 ## Streaming the US now - **AMC+:** [*Mad Men*](https://film.one/tv/mad-men.md) (88) - **HBO Max:** [*My Night at Maud's*](https://film.one/film/my-night-at-mauds.md) (81) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Barbet Schroeder > Barbet Schroeder gives difficult people time to explain themselves, often past the point of comfort. We value his patient, unsentimental attention, though the same restraint can leave his fiction feeling remote. Barbet Schroeder lets people speak without immediately explaining how we ought to feel. In *General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait* (1974), extended access gives Amin ample opportunity to present himself. We found that exposure disturbing: Schroeder offers little of the reassurance that comes from a director announcing his disapproval. His patience is worth taking seriously, even when it makes the watching unpleasant. *More* (1969), his first feature, established his interest in countercultural extremes and featured a Pink Floyd score. The move into American studio filmmaking with *Barfly* (1987) did not mean abandoning people at the edge of society. Its concern with alcoholism and outsider existence belongs comfortably beside the earlier film’s heroin addiction. Recurring collaborators include cinematographer Luciano Tovoli and actress Bulle Ogier, providing some continuity through the changes between fiction and documentary. *Reversal of Fortune* (1990) makes a persuasive case for his precision with psychological drama. *Single White Female* (1992) puts obsession inside a commercial thriller, another suitable setting for his interest in extreme behaviour. But the deliberate pacing and emotional distance of *La Vallée* (1972) show where his approach can become a problem. We can spend a long time watching his characters without coming to care enough about them. *Mad Men* (2007) offers a useful point of contact, although Schroeder directed only one episode, in 2009. We admire the series for its exact performances and patient storytelling, which make its advertising world funny, ugly and absorbing. Its occasional smugness about the past does not much diminish that pleasure, and its patience fits his preference for letting people reveal themselves. Credit for the programme’s achievements cannot, however, sensibly be handed to a single guest director. He later returned to smaller-scale fiction and documentaries, including *Terror’s Advocate* (2007) and *The Venerable W.* (2017). Giving disturbing subjects room to speak remains a strength, but also carries the risk of leaving too much unchallenged. A more forceful challenge would sometimes help. For a first encounter, we would choose *Reversal of Fortune*, where his reserve is well suited to psychological drama. ## Biography Barbet Schroeder is a Swiss film director and producer born in Tehran, Iran, in 1941. He began his career in the 1960s producing films associated with the French New Wave, including works by Éric Rohmer, Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette. Schroeder directed his debut feature *More* (1969) and later films including *Barfly* (1987), *Reversal of Fortune* (1990) — for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director — *Single White Female* (1992), *Kiss of Death* (1995) and *Murder by Numbers* (2002). He has also directed documentaries such as *General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait* (1974) and an episode of the series *Mad Men* (2009). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (5) ### Performed in (1) - *Mars Attacks!* (1996), Fi1m 66, as French President — [page](https://film.one/film/mars-attacks.md) ### Directed (2) — the average rests on these - *Mad Men* (2007), Fi1m 88, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/mad-men.md) - *Reversal of Fortune* (1990), Fi1m 75, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/reversal-of-fortune.md) ### Produced (2) - *The Mother and the Whore* (1973), Fi1m 86, Co-Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-mother-and-the-whore.md) - *My Night at Maud's* (1969), Fi1m 81, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/my-night-at-mauds.md) ## Complete filmography (70) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Ricardo and Painting* (2023), Screenplay, Director - *The Venerable W.* (2017), as Narrateur (voice) · Director, Writer - *What Are You Up To, Barbet Schroeder?* (2017), as Voice · Director - *Amnesia* (2015), Director, Screenplay - *Rouge* (2015), as Le médecin - *Portrait of the Artist* (2015), as Le médecin - *Electra, for Instance* (2013), as The pedagogue - *Dreaming American* (2011), Executive Producer - *Comme un chien* (2010), Actor - *Inju: The Beast in the Shadow* (2008), Director, Screenplay - *The Darjeeling Limited* (2007), as The Mechanic - *Mad Men* (2007), series, Director — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/mad-men.md) - *Terror's Advocate* (2007), as Narrator (voice) · Director, Scenario Writer - *The Duchess of Langeais* (2007), as Duc de Grandlieu - *Paris Je T'aime* (2006), as Monsieur Henny (Porte de Choisy) - *Only the Night* (2005), as Dr. Idelman - *Don't Do That!* (2004), as un client du restaurant - *Murder by Numbers* (2002), Director, Producer - *Our Lady of the Assassins* (2000), Director, Producer - *Desperate Measures* (1998), Producer, Director - *Mars Attacks!* (1996), as French President — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/mars-attacks.md) - *Before and After* (1996), Director, Producer - *Never Talk to Strangers* (1995), Executive Producer - *Kiss of Death* (1995), Producer, Director - *Beverly Hills Cop III* (1994), as Man in Porsche - *Queen Margot* (1994), as Advisor #2 - *Single White Female* (1992), Producer, Director - *The Golden Boat* (1991), as Mean Passer-by - *Out 1* (1990), as Gian-Reto - *Reversal of Fortune* (1990), Director — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/reversal-of-fortune.md) - *Barfly* (1987), Producer, Director - *The Future of Emily* (1985), Co-Producer - *The Charles Bukowski Tapes* (1985), Director, Producer, Editor - *Improper Conduct* (1984), Producer - *Cheaters* (1984), as Un Joueur (uncredited) · Director, Writer - *Le Pont du Nord* (1982), Producer - *Short Memory* (1982), as Un invité au dîner - *L.A.X.* (1980), as Narrator - *Roberte* (1979), as Vittorio - *Cinématon* (1978), as N°651 - *Koko: A Talking Gorilla* (1978), Director, Associate Producer - *Perceval* (1978), Producer - *Chinese Roulette* (1977), Producer - *The Marquise of O* (1976), Producer - *Maîtresse* (1976), Director, Screenplay - *Céline and Julie Go Boating* (1974), as Olivier · Producer - *La Paloma* (1974), as Bishop (uncredited) - *General Idi Amin Dada* (1974), Director, Writer - *Out 1: Spectre* (1973), as Gian-Reto - *The Mother and the Whore* (1973), Co-Producer — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/the-mother-and-the-whore.md) - *Love in the Afternoon* (1972), Producer - *The Valley* (1972), Director, Dialogue, Screenplay, Adaptation, Producer - *Out 1* (1971), series, as Gian-Reto - *Sing Sing* (1971), Director - *Make-up* (1971), Director - *Pork with Sweet Potatoes* (1971), Director - *Claire's Knee* (1970), Producer - *Fun and Games for Everyone* (1969), Actor - *More* (1969), Director, Writer, Producer - *My Night at Maud's* (1969), Producer — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/my-night-at-mauds.md) - *Imagine Robinson Crusoe* (1968), Producer - *A Farmer in Montfaucon* (1968), Producer - *La Collectionneuse* (1967), Producer - *Six in Paris* (1965), as Jean-Pierre (segment "Gare du Nord") · Producer - *Gare du Nord* (1965), Actor - *Nadja in Paris* (1964), Producer - *The Carabineers* (1963), as Car Salesman - *Méditerranée* (1963), Producer - *Suzanne’s Career* (1963), Producer - *The Bakery Girl of Monceau* (1963), as Young Man / Narrator · Producer ## Gallery - ![Director Barbet Schroeder, of "Inju, la bete dans l'ombre". (2008)](https://film.one/media/person/61085/gallery-325616eb90a7.jpg) Director Barbet Schroeder, of "Inju, la bete dans l'ombre". (2008) — Bryan Chan from Toronto, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Barbet_Schroeder_%282883902011%29.jpg/1280px-Barbet_Schroeder_%282883902011%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Barbet Schroeder](https://film.one/media/person/61085/gallery-97f413d62982.jpg) Barbet Schroeder — Barbet_Schroeder_(2883902011).jpg: Bryan Chan from Toronto, Canada derivative work: Morn, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Barbet_Schroeder_%282883902011%29_cropped.jpg/1280px-Barbet_Schroeder_%282883902011%29_cropped.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Ricardo Cavallo et Barbet Schroeder présentant le documentaire "Ricardo et la peinture" à la Cinémathèque française, en novembre 2023.](https://film.one/media/person/61085/gallery-a51aa925b5df.jpg) Ricardo Cavallo et Barbet Schroeder présentant le documentaire "Ricardo et la peinture" à la Cinémathèque française, en novembre 2023. — ManoSolo13241324, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Ricardo_Cavallo_et_Barbet_Schroeder_2023.jpg/1280px-Ricardo_Cavallo_et_Barbet_Schroeder_2023.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Barbet Schroeder](https://film.one/media/person/61085/gallery-9b1118ed6571.jpg) Barbet Schroeder — Image via TMDB - ![Barbet Schroeder](https://film.one/media/person/61085/gallery-4a378b194dc1.jpg) Barbet Schroeder — Image via TMDB - ![Barbet Schroeder](https://film.one/media/person/61085/gallery-9d16454c1035.jpg) Barbet Schroeder — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated - 1991: Best Director (nominated), for *Reversal of Fortune* ### Other awards — 2 won - Swiss Film Award/Honorary Award 2025: Swiss Film Award/Honorary Award (won) - César Award for Best Documentary Film 2008: César Award for Best Documentary Film (won), for *Terror's Advocate* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/barbet-schroeder