Frédéric Auburtin

Frédéric Auburtin (born 4 June 1962) is a French director, writer, actor and producer.

Frédéric Auburtin
Born	(1962-06-04) 4 June 1962 (age 63) Marseille, France
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor, composer, second unit director, assistant director
Years active	1985–present

Life and career

Frédéric Auburtin was born and raised in Marseille, France, where he studied music (piano, drums) and literature before transitioning to the film industry in the early 80s. He made his debut as an assistant director for the film Rouge midi, which was directed by Robert Guédiguian.

In the 80s and 90s he worked as an assistant director with several directors for various movies, including Maurice Pialat (Under the Sun of Satan), Luigi Comencini (La Bohème), Richard Heffron (La Révolution française), Bertrand Blier (Merci la vie), Jean-Jacques Annaud (The Lover), Claude Berri (Germinal and Lucie Aubrac), Jean-Paul Rappeneau (The Horseman on the Roof) and Randall Wallace (The Man in the Iron Mask).

In 1999, he debuted as a director, co-directing with Gérard Depardieu The Bridge (Un pont entre deux rives), for which he also composed the soundtrack. During the 2000s he kept directing mostly for television, but also directed movies, including San-Antonio (2004) and Envoyés très spéciaux (2009). In 2006, he co-directed (again with Depardieu) the segment "Quartier Latin", written and starred by Gena Rowlands with Ben Gazzara and Gérard Depardieu, in the anthology film Paris, je t'aime.^[1][2]

In 2014, he became widely known for directing the infamous movie United Passions. The film recounts the origins of the world-governing body of association football, Fédération Internationale de Football Association, and was ninety-percent funded by them. Released in North America at the peak of the scandals of the 2015 FIFA corruption case, the film grossed very badly in the box-office (a mere $918 in its opening weekend)^[3] and received overwhelming dislike from critics around the world.^[4] It's now considered one of the worst movies ever made^[5] and all the actors and Auburtin himself considered the film a "disaster".^[6]

Filmography

Assistant Director

• Rouge midi (1985) (third assistant director)
• Les Fugitifs (1986) (third assistant director)
• Under the Sun of Satan (1987) (second assistant director)
• La Bohème (1988) (second assistant director)
• La Révolution française (1989) (second assistant director)
• La fille des collines (1990) (first assistant director)
• Merci la vie (1991) (second unit director)
• The Lover (1992) (first assistant director)
• Germinal (1993) (first assistant director)
• The Horseman on the Roof (1995) (first assistant director)
• Lucie Aubrac (1997) (first assistant director)
• The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) (first assistant director)

Director

• The Bridge (co-director with Gérard Depardieu, 1999)
• Boulevard du Palais (TV series) (1 episode) (2001)
• Volpone (TV Movie) (2003)
• San-Antonio (2004)
• Paris, je t'aime (segment "Quartier Latin", co-director with Gérard Depardieu, 2006)
• La vie à une (TV movie) (2008)
• Envoyés très spéciaux (2009)
• La plus pire semaine de ma vie (TV series) (2 episodes) (2010-2011)
• United Passions (2014)

Actor

• Under the Sun of Satan (1987)
• Un amour de trop (1989)
• The Lover (1992)
• Le secret de Polichinelle (1997)

Writer

• Boulevard du Palais (TV series) (1999)
• Paris, je t'aime (2006)
• United Passions (2014)

Composer

• The Bridge (1999)
• Volpone (TV movie) (2003)
• La vie à une (TV movie) (2008)

Production Manager

• Manon des sources (1986) (unit manager)
• Jean de Florette (1986) (unit manager)

Editorial Department

• Paris, je t'aime (2006) (editorial supervisor)

Soundtrack

• Envoyés très spéciaux ("Un euro pour nos otages") (2009)

Himself

• Un jour dans la vie du cinéma français (TV movie documentary) (2002)