Robert Guédiguian

Robert Jules Guédiguian (; born 3 December 1953) is a French filmmaker, producer and actor. Most known for Marius and Jeannette and Gloria Mundi (2019), his films usually star his wife Ariane Ascaride or Jean-Pierre Darroussin.

Life Guédiguian is the son of a German mother and an Armenian father, whose family immigrated to France in the early 20th century after the Armenian genocide. He evokes his paternal roots in his 2006 film Le Voyage en Armenie. He has a working-class background, as his father is a worker on the Marseille docks. Guédiguian became concerned with political questions and for a while was involved with the French Communist Party. In 2008 he joined the Left Party in France.

He has been married to actress Ariane Ascaride since 1975 and they have two daughters, Valentine and Madeleine.

Career Like Marcel Pagnol and René Allio before him, he anchors his films in social reality. His films are strongly marked by the local and regional environment of the city of Marseille, and in particular L'Estaque (north-west Marseille), for example in Marius et Jeannette. His 2011 film The Snows of Kilimanjaro premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Guédiguian signed an open letter published in Libération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.

Filmography

As filmmaker

Other credits Year TitleCredited as NotesScreenwriterProducer 1980 Fernand 1985 Le Souffleur 1989 Roundabout 1989 Montalvo and the Child 1990 Le Coupeur d'eau Short film 1991 Le Cri du cochon 1992 C'est trop con! Short film 2002 Romances de terre et d'eau Documentary film 2004 Bad Spelling 2005 Crustacés et Coquillages As associate producer 2005 Free Zone Co-producer 2006 Le Dernier des fous 2007 Beneath the Rooftops of Paris 2009 Sisters 2010 Les Amants naufragés Telefilm 2011 La Vie en miettes 2013 Notre monde Documentary film 2013 My Sweet Pepper Land 2013 Les Déferlantes Telefilm 2017 The Young Karl Marx

As actor 1990: L'Ami Giono: Jofroi de la Maussan (Telefilm) 2002: Lulu as Marius 2012: Rendezvous in Kiruna 2021: Twist à Bamako