Sabine Azéma stood out in the theatre acting the parts of leading lady before playing the daughter of Louis de Funès in "La Valse des toréadors" (1974). Her performance led to a number of further proposals after this role and thus launched her cinema career. As early as 1985, she won her first César for her role in Bertrand Tavernier’s "Un dimanche à la campagne" (A Sunday in the Country), presented in Competition at the Festival de Cannes. In 1989, Tavernier gave her another major part in "La Vie et rien d'autre" (Life and Nothing But). Her career took a decisive turn when she met Alain Resnais. Their collaboration has lasted for nearly three decades, with the film-maker enabling the actress to reveal the many facets of her talent: she was the tragic heroine in "L'Amour à mort" (Love unto Death) (1984), then in "Mélo" (Melo) (1986) for which she was awarded a César for Best Actress. She then went on to interpret very different characters, in "Smoking / No Smoking" (1993), "On connaît la chanson" (Same Old Song) (1997), "Pas sur la bouche" (Not on the Lips) (2003), "Cœurs" (Private Fears in Public Places) (2006) or "Les Herbes folles" (Wild Grass) (2009) and "Vous n’avez encore rien vu" (You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet) (2012), both selected in Competition at the Festival de Cannes.
Alain Resnais’ muse, she has also starred in films directed by Jacques Doillon, Jean-Pierre Mocky, Bertrand Blier, Etienne Chatiliez who made her a popular actress with "Le Bonheur est dans le pré" (1995). Sabine Azéma’s acting literally ignites the screen and inspires young directors: "Le Mystère de la chambre jaune" (The Mystery of the Yellow Room) by Denis Podalydès, "Faut que ça danse" (Let’s Dance) by Noémie Lvovsky, "Peindre ou faire l'amour" (To Paint or Make Love) and "Le Voyage aux Pyrénées" by the Larrieu brothers.
Sabine Azéma has just played in the new movie of Andrzej Zulawski, "Cosmos".
Jury attendance
- President Caméra d'Or, 2015
