Humbert Jean René Balsan (21 August 1954 – 10 February 2005) was a French film producer and chairman of the European Film Academy. He was known to have suffered from depression, and died by suicide.

Early life and career

Born in Arcachon

Role of producer

Balsan became a producer in 1978 with the filming of Pierre Kast's Le Soleil en Face (Face to the Sun) (1980). The same year, he acted in and co-produced Jean-Louis Trintignant's Le Maître-nageur (1979).

During the 1980s, Balsan lent not only his screen presence to Samuel Fuller for the then-expatriated director's French-language film Les Voleurs de la nuit (Thieves After Dark) (1984) but his Paris apartment as well. Fuller, who lived in France with his wife and daughter for 13 years beginning in 1982, would recount this period in his memoir (with Christa Lang Fuller) A Third Face: My Tale of Writing, Fighting, and Filmmaking ().

As a patron of France's women filmmakers, Balsan facilitated a group that included Claire Denis, Sabine Franel, Brigitte Roüan, and Sandrine Veysset. He financed Roüan's Post Coitum, Animal Triste (1997) on the stipulation that the director, who like Balsan began her film career in front of the camera, play the film's lead role.

Balsan also came to be known as a champion of Arab cinema.

Over the course of his career, Balsan played a role in the production of over 60 films, including several for filmmaking pair Merchant-Ivory.

Selected filmography

  • Noroît (1976)
  • Un balcon en forêt (1978)
  • Adieu Bonaparte (1985)
  • The Veiled Man (1987)
  • Will It Snow for Christmas? (1996)
  • Destiny (1998)
  • After Sex (1998)
  • Rembrandt (1999)
  • Samia (2001)
  • Silence, We're Rolling (2001)
  • Martha...Martha (2002)
  • Divine Intervention (2003)
  • Process (2004)
  • Alexandria... New York (2004)
  • The Gate of Sun (2004)

References

  • "Humbert Balsan" by Ronald Bergan, The Guardian, February 23, 2005, retrieved April 4, 2006
  • "Press Release of the French Cinémathèque," by Claude Berri, et al., Masters of Cinema website, retrieved April 4, 2006
  • "Humbert Balsan 1954–2005" by Dave Kehr, Rouge website, retrieved April 4, 2006
  • "When the Tables Are Turned in Adultery's Secret Rooms", by Alan Riding, New York Times, March 8, 1998
  • "Featured Player: Humbert Balsan" by Ali Jaafar, Variety, May 30, 2004, retrieved April 4, 2006
  • "Producing award-winning Arab cinema" by Ali Jaafar, The Daily Star, February 2, 2005, retrieved April 4, 2006