Biography
René Clément (18 March 1913 – 17 March 1996) was a French film director and screenwriter. He studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts before directing his first short film in 1936, a comedy featuring Jacques Tati. He made documentaries in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Clément’s feature debut, The Battle of the Rails (1946), brought critical success. He directed Forbidden Games (1952), for which he also contributed to the screenplay; the film won the Golden Lion at Venice and an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Two of his films received that Oscar: The Walls of Malapaga (1949) and Forbidden Games. Other notable works include Gervaise (1956), Purple Noon (1960), Is Paris Burning? (1966) and Rider on the Rain (1970). He received an Honorary César in 1984.
