Alain Berbérian

Alain Berbérian (, ; 2 July 1953 – 22 August 2017) was a French film director and writer of Armenian descent.

Biography Born in Beirut to an Armenian father and a Greek mother, Berbérian spent his youth in Lebanon before finishing his studies in France. He was the brother of cartoonist Charles Berberian. He began his career in the audiovisual field, working as an editor at Canal+.

His first feature film was the comedy , which was hit in France. Based on a script by Les Nuls, the film describes a series of murders in Cannes. Berbérian returned in 1998 with Paparazzi, starring Vincent Lindon and Patrick Timsit. The film follows the life of a night watchman (Timsit) who is fired after being photographed at a soccer game, instead of being at his job. He then meets Michel (Lindon), who teaches him how to be a paparazzo.

In 2000, Berbérian directed Six-Pack, a thriller with Richard Anconina who stalks a serial-killer to the four corners of Paris. Returning in 2002 with the comedy Le Boulet, starring Gérard Lanvin and Benoît Poelvoorde, a prison guard (Poelvoorde) has to team up with a convict (Lanvin) to retrieve a lotto ticket from the latter.

Then in 2004, Berbérian paired Christian Clavier and Jean Reno in the comedy, The Corsican File, based on a comic book of the same name by René Pétillon, in which a detective is responsible for locating a man living in Corsica who is owed an inheritance. In 2007, he reunited Gérard Jugnot and Jean-Paul Rouve in L'Île aux trésors.

Death Berbérian died in Paris, France, on 22 August 2017, at the age of 64.

Filmography

Director 1989 : ABCD Nuls (TV series), with Les Nuls 1990 : Histoire(s) de la télévision (TV series), with Les Nuls 1990 : Les Nuls L'émission (TV series), with Les Nuls 1994 : , with Les Nuls 1998 : Paparazzi, with Vincent Lindon 2000 : Six-Pack, with Richard Anconina 2002 : Le Boulet (Dead Weight), with Gérard Lanvin 2004 : L'Enquête Corse (The Corsican File), with Christian Clavier 2007 : L'Île aux trésors (Treasured Island), with Gérard Jugnot

Writer 1998 : Six-Pack, with Richard Anconina 1997 : Paparazzi, with Vincent Lindon