Anatole Dauman Biography

Creative, and unafraid to push the limits of the cinematic frontier, Anatole Dauman was among Europe's most influential producers of independent films and was behind such seminal works as Alain Resnais's Hiroshima, Mon Amour (1959), Chris Marker's La Jetee (1962), Nagisa Oshima In the Real of the Senses (1991), and Wim Wenders Der Himmer über Berlin/Wings of Desire (1991). Though born in Warsaw, Dauman was raised in France. He founded the influential Argos Films in 1949 and launched his career as a producer with a series of short films during the early 1950s. Dauman became a familiar name after he produced Resnais's chilling documentary look at life inside a Nazi concentration camp Nuit et Brouillard/ Night and Fog (1955). Beginning in the early '90s, Dauman's influence lessened considerably as European audiences turned away from the arthouse fare for which he was most famous. Modern young critics downplayed his importance in contemporary cinema, something that angered Dauman. His final film production, Level Five (1996), was a low-budget effort from avant-garde filmmaker Chris Marker. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi