Diane Kurys facts for kids

Diane Kurys (born 3 December 1948) is a famous French director, producer, filmmaker, and actress. She is known for making movies that often tell stories inspired by her own life.

About Diane Kurys

Diane Kurys was born in Lyon, France. She is the younger of two sisters. Her parents were immigrants from Russia and Poland. Diane and her older sister grew up in Lyon. Her parents separated when she was young, which was a big event in her life. This experience later became a source of ideas for many of her films. She once said she made films about her parents because she "wanted to see them back together again." After her parents separated in 1954, Diane and her mother moved to Paris. Her mother opened a fashion store there. Her father stayed in Lyon and ran a men's clothing store.

When she was a teenager, Diane was involved in the student movements of the late 1960s in France. She met her partner, Alexandre Arcady, when she was 15 years old. They have been together since the 1960s and have two film production companies. Their son, Yasha, born in 1991, is an author who writes under the name Sacha Sperling.

From Acting to Directing

Diane first studied literature at university. Then, in the 1970s, she became a theater actress. She acted in plays, movies, and TV shows for eight years. While she enjoyed being part of the acting world, she felt she couldn't fully express herself as an actress. She felt she was always under someone else's direction. This feeling led her to start writing and making her own films. She wanted to tell her own stories.

Making Movies: Diane's Directorial Journey

In 1975, Diane helped adapt a play for French television. The next year, she started writing a book about her own life. With some help, she turned this book into a movie script. This became her first film as a director, called Peppermint Soda (1977).

Early Films and Personal Stories

Peppermint Soda is set in 1963. It tells the story of a girl named Anne as she grows up. The film explores her life with divorced parents and her relationship with her sister. Diane dedicated the film to her real-life sister. She said her inspiration came "from myself, my own life, my own experience." The movie was very successful with both critics and audiences.

Her next film, Cocktail Molotov (1980), was about the student movements in Paris in May 1968. It followed three young people: Anne, Frank, and Bruno. This film is seen as a companion to Peppermint Soda.

Diane explored the topic of divorce again in Entre Nous (1983). This time, the story was told from the mother's point of view. It showed a mother who leaves her husband and moves to Paris with her friend and their children. This film was inspired by Diane's own family history. It showed a strong friendship between women, which was unusual for the time. Diane said the film was her way to "allow them to live together once more" on screen. The film was very popular and won awards. It was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Expanding Her Stories

In 1987, Diane Kurys opened the Cannes Film Festival with her first English-language film, A Man in Love. It was about an American movie star and a British actress who meet while filming in Rome. This movie was different because it wasn't mostly about her own life.

She returned to stories inspired by her life with C'est la vie (1990). This film featured a teenage character in the 1950s whose parents were about to divorce.

Diane then directed the comedy Love After Love (1992). It was about a writer who was dating two men. Her next film, Six Days, Six Nights (1994), looked at the relationship between two adult sisters after their mother passed away. Both of these films were inspired by life in Paris in the 1990s.

Historical Dramas and Comedies

Diane wanted to make films that were not about her own life. So, her next film was Children of the Century (1999). This was a historical drama about two famous French writers from the 19th century, George Sand and Alfred de Musset. Diane was interested in telling their story. The film was even shot in some of the real places where Sand and Musset lived.

Her ninth film, I'm Staying! (2003), was a romantic comedy. It was about a husband, his wife, and her friend who all end up living in the same apartment. Two years later, she made another comedy called The Anniversary (2005). This film was about a famous TV producer who brings his old friends together.

In 2008, Diane directed Sagan, a movie about the life of the famous French writer Françoise Sagan.

Her film For a Woman (2013) was filmed in Lyon. It was about a family secret and was partly inspired by her parents' marriage and divorce. It is seen as a companion film to Entre Nous, but this time from the father's perspective.

In 2016, she directed Arrête ton cinéma!. This comedy was based on a book by actress Sylvie Testud. It followed a famous actress who gets a big offer to make a film.

Her most recent film, My Mother is Crazy (2018), tells the story of a mother and son reuniting on a trip. Diane's son, Sacha Sperling, helped write this film.

Film Production Companies

Diane Kurys and Alexandre Arcady started their first company, Alexandre Films, in 1977. This company helped produce her first six films. In 1994, they formed another company called New Light Films. This company makes movies in both French and English.

Selected Films Directed by Diane Kurys

See also

In Spanish: Diane Kurys para niños