La Classe Américaine : Le Grand Détournement

Michael Hazanavicius was born in Paris in 1967. After studying art his career takes off in television when he joins the comedy team Les Nuls (Canal+). Also for Canal+, with Dominique Mezerette he creates a series of “hijacked films” such as La Classe Américaine for which he strings together scenes from various Hollywood classics and dubs the result with a unifying French dialogue that has nothing to do with the original screenplays. After acting in La Cité de La Peur des Nuls, he co-wrote the screenplay Delphine 1 – Yvan 0 (1996) directed by Dominique Farrugia. He writes radio plays for les Nuls, then directs a short film Echec au Capital, and then a feature length film Mes Amis. He directs a number of ads for which he wins many prizes including a Silver Lion at Cannes. In 2005 he co-writes and co-produces a documentary on the Rwandan genocide entitled Tuez-les tous! His career takes a leap forward when he directs the off-the-wall spy thriller OSS117, Le Caire nid d’espions starring Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo. Three years later, Dujardin will reprise the role in OSS117: Rio ne répond plus. Still working with Dujardin and Bejo he reaches international renown with The Artist which screens at Cannes in 2011. An ambitious endeavor, this black and white, silent movie follows the career of George Valentin, silent movie star in the Hollywood of the 1920’s, whose career is ended by the arrival of the talkies. The film won awards internationally including 5 Academy Awards. After directing a section of the ensemble film Les Infidels, he changes gears with The Search, a drama that follows three separate lives during the Second Chechen War. In 2017, with Riad Sattouf and Florence Gastaud he co-founds production company Les Compagnons du Cinéma and they produce Le Redoutable, based on the book Un an by Anne Wiazemsky. A biopic on a period in Jean-Luc Godard’s life, Le Redoutable is selected for the official competition at Cannes. His next film, Le Prince Oublié, an adventure comedy starring Omar Sy, François Damiens and Bérénice Bejo will open in January 2020.