Leos Carax

Alex Christophe Dupont^[1][2] (born 1960),^[3] best known as Leos Carax (French: [leɔs kaʁaks]), is a French film director, critic and writer. Carax is noted for his poetic style and his tortured depictions of love. His first major work was Boy Meets Girl (1984), and his notable works include Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991), Pola X (1999), Holy Motors (2012) and Annette (2021). For the last, he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. His professional name is an anagram of his real name, 'Alex', and 'Oscar'.

Leos Carax
Carax at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Alex Christophe Dupont 1960 (age 64–65) Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine, France
Occupations	Film director critic actor screenwriter
Years active	1984–present

Early life

Carax was born Alex Christophe Dupont in Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine, a commune in the suburbs of Paris, France.^[1] His mother is American and his father is French.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Carax's film career began with a series of short films, and as a film critic, before he released Boy Meets Girl (1984), which established his reputation for a mature visual style. It also saw the first grouping of Carax with Denis Lavant and cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffier. His next film was Mauvais Sang (literally Bad Blood but mostly known as The Night is Young) in 1986, which alienated some of his audience, but continued to explore the complexities of love in the modern world, this time through a darker, more criminal viewpoint. The work was clearly an homage to French New Wave cinema, and his use of such actresses as Juliette Binoche was a tribute to his influences, especially Jean-Luc Godard. The film was entered into the 37th Berlin International Film Festival.^[4]

Five years later, Carax returned to directing with Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, an expensive undertaking as Parisian authorities granted him only 10 days to film on Pont Neuf. His initial reaction to the problems of filming on a public bridge had been to construct a model of the bridge in the community of Lansargues, in Southern France. But on the first day of filming Lavant severely injured his thumb, which pushed the movie back by a month. Subsequent financial difficulties further pushed filming over a much longer period than intended. The movie was released to critical acclaim and opened the door for Carax to enter more experimental waters with his fourth feature, Pola X (1999), an adaptation of Herman Melville's Pierre: or, The Ambiguities.

Carax's 2012 film Holy Motors also stars Lavant.^[5] The film competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.^[6][7]

In 2017, Carax performed vocals and accordion on the track "When You're a French Director" on Sparks's album Hippopotamus.^{[citation needed]}

In 2021, Carax directed Annette, a music-filled drama feature film written by Sparks and starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.^[8]

In 2024, Carax will star in the short film An Urban Allegory,^[9] co-directed by Alice Rohrwacher and JR, which will make its world premiere out of competition at the 81st Venice International Film Festival.^[10]

Filmography

Short film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1980	Strangulation Blues[11]	Yes	Yes	No
1997	Sans Titre	Yes	Yes	No
2006	My Last Minute	Yes	Yes	No
2008	Merde	Yes	Yes	No	Segment of Tokyo!
2010	Naked Eyes	Yes	Yes	No	Segment of 42 One Dream Rush[12]
2014	Gradiva	Yes	No	No
2024	It's Not Me[13]	Yes	Yes	Yes

Feature film

Year	Title	Director	Writer
1984	Boy Meets Girl	Yes	Yes
1986	Mauvais Sang	Yes	Yes
1991	Les Amants du Pont-Neuf	Yes	Yes
1999	Pola X	Yes	Yes
2012	Holy Motors	Yes	Yes
2021	Annette	Yes	No

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Mauvais Sang	Le voyeur du quartier	Uncredited
1987	King Lear	Edgar
1997	The House
2004	Process	Un médecin
2006	977	Technic
2007	Mister Lonely	Renard
2008	Je ne suis pas morte	Moitié d'archange
2012	Holy Motors	Le Dormeur and Voix Limousine	Credited as "LC"
2024	It's Not Me	LC
	An Urban Allegory	The Director

Music video

Year	Title	Artist
2002	"Quelqu'un m'a dit"	Carla Bruni
2003	"Tout le monde"
2005	"Crystal" (alternative version)	New Order