---
name: "Michel Portal"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/michel-portal"
fi1m_id: "michel-portal"
imdb_id: "nm0006233"
tmdb_id: 25351
wikidata_id: "Q1353252"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "25 November 1935"
died: "12 February 2026"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-26T01:42:17.063598+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."
---

# Michel Portal

## Identity

Michel Portal

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/michel-portal
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** michel-portal
- **IMDb ID:** nm0006233
- **TMDB ID:** 25351
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1353252
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Portal, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1353252, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006233/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/25351

Composer. Born 25 November 1935 in Bayonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. Died 12 February 2026.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 25 November 1935, Bayonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France
- **Died:** 12 February 2026
- **Active:** 1987–1989
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Portal, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1353252, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006233/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/25351

## Biography

Michel Portal (27 November 1935 – 12 February 2026) was a French composer, saxophonist and clarinetist. He worked in jazz, classical and film music, and studied clarinet at the Conservatoire de Paris.

Portal began composing for films in the 1980s. His credits include *The Return of Martin Guerre* (1982), *Yeelen* (1987) and *A Tale of the Wind* (1989). He won the César Award for Best Music Written for a Film three times.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Yeelen* (1987), Fi1m 84, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/yeelen.md)

## Complete filmography (53)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Michel Portal @ Nancy Jazz Pulsations 2021* (2021), Actor
- *Le Professeur* (2012), Original Music Composer
- *Cigarettes et bas nylons* (2010), Original Music Composer
- *Lies* (2010), Original Music Composer
- *The Girl from the Chartreuse* (2005), Original Music Composer
- *Le porteur de cartable* (2003), Sound
- *Un fils de notre temps* (2003), Original Music Composer
- *Jacques Lacan, la psychanalyse réinventée* (2001), Original Music Composer
- *Passionnément* (2000), Original Music Composer
- *The Comedian* (1997), Original Music Composer
- *Buud Yam* (1997), Original Music Composer
- *The Colors of the Devil* (1997), Original Music Composer
- *1914 the Glorious Summer* (1996), Original Music Composer
- *Doctor Semmelweis* (1995), Music
- *The Machine* (1994), Original Music Composer
- *Eugénie Grandet* (1994), Original Music Composer
- *The Return of Casanova* (1992), Original Music Composer
- *Au Sud du Sud* (1992), Music
- *Alcyon* (1990), Music
- *Dr. Petiot* (1990), Original Music Composer
- *Ke arteko egunak* (1990), Original Music Composer
- *Adventure of Catherine C.* (1990), Original Music Composer
- *Angels* (1990), Original Music Composer
- *Children of Chaos* (1989), Original Music Composer
- *À corps et à cris* (1989), Music
- *A Tale of the Wind* (1989), Music
- *The Mortal Fortune* (1989), Original Music Composer
- *No Harm Intended* (1988), Original Music Composer
- *Sorceress* (1987), Original Music Composer, Musician
- *Yeelen* (1987), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/yeelen.md)
- *Milan noir* (1987), Original Music Composer
- *Max My Love* (1986), Original Music Composer
- *Fou comme l'oiseau* (1983), Music
- *Le fou du désert* (1983), series, as Compositor
- *Paradise for All* (1982), Musician
- *The Return of Martin Guerre* (1982), Original Music Composer
- *Short Memory* (1982), Original Music Composer
- *Café Plongeoir* (1982), Original Music Composer
- *Droit de Réponse* (1981), Original Music Composer
- *The Red Shade* (1981), Music
- *Le Beau Monde* (1981), Music
- *See Here My Love* (1979), Music
- *The Dogs* (1979), Original Music Composer
- *Adoption* (1979), Original Music Composer
- *Surreal Estate* (1976), Original Music Composer
- *La Cecilia* (1976), Music
- *Tahia Ya Didou !* (1971), Music
- *The Bamboo Incident* (1970), Original Music Composer
- *Les Trois Cousins* (1970), Music
- *A Question of Rape* (1967), Music
- *Paris Blues* (1961), as Musician (uncredited)
- *A few notes on freedom*, as Lui-même
- *Icelandic Fisherman*, Music

## Gallery

- ![Michel Portal](https://film.one/media/person/3925470/gallery-be077f3bc3ac.jpg) Michel Portal — File:Terrasson Jackie Portal-Michel-domicil dortmund.jpg : Hpschaefer

derivative work: LllC, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Portal_Michel-domicil_dortmund_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Michel Portal MP85 11 juli 2021 Lantaren Venster Rotterdam - Michel Portal](https://film.one/media/person/3925470/gallery-cc80792d6889.jpg) Michel Portal MP85 11 juli 2021 Lantaren Venster Rotterdam - Michel Portal — Dirk Neven, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Michel_Portal_MP85_11_juli_2021_Lantaren_Venster_Rotterdam_-_Michel_Portal_%2851306227196%29.jpg/1280px-Michel_Portal_MP85_11_juli_2021_Lantaren_Venster_Rotterdam_-_Michel_Portal_%2851306227196%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Michel Portal MP85 11 juli 2021 Lantaren Venster Rotterdam - Michel Portal](https://film.one/media/person/3925470/gallery-3d14f9ff1ccb.jpg) Michel Portal MP85 11 juli 2021 Lantaren Venster Rotterdam - Michel Portal — Dirk Neven, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Michel_Portal_MP85_11_juli_2021_Lantaren_Venster_Rotterdam_-_Michel_Portal_%2851306947559%29.jpg/1280px-Michel_Portal_MP85_11_juli_2021_Lantaren_Venster_Rotterdam_-_Michel_Portal_%2851306947559%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Michel Portal au Paris Jazz Festival en 2004](https://film.one/media/person/3925470/gallery-ac53d53e08d6.jpg) Michel Portal au Paris Jazz Festival en 2004 — Pkobel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Michelportal_pjf20040613.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Michel Portal](https://film.one/media/person/3925470/gallery-e2362022407f.jpg) Michel Portal — Image via TMDB
- ![French jazz musician Michel Portal at Dortmund, Domicil (2010)](https://film.one/media/person/3925470/gallery-801b4df73ade.jpg) French jazz musician Michel Portal at Dortmund, Domicil (2010) — Hpschaefer http://www.reserv-art.de, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Portal_Michel_domicil_dortmund.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Michel Portal](https://film.one/media/person/3925470/gallery-fe08f96cd80b.jpg) Michel Portal — CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Portal_Michel_Bruegge_Concertgebouw_2006.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Other awards — 2 won

- Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres 2011: Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres (won)
- Prix Django Reinhardt 1968: Prix Django Reinhardt (won)

*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/michel-portal