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Pierre Tchernia, Annecy 99

11th Oct 2016

  Pierre Tchernia Has Passed Away 

Pierre Tchernia, aka Monsieur Cinéma, passed away on Saturday 8 October. He was 88 years old.

Pierre Tchernia, one of the pioneers of the televisual adventure in France and someone who shared his passion for the TV and the cinema equally, passed away on October 8th. Throughout his career, he was able to anticipate trends and engrave his talent in the history of both the small and big screen.

Filmmaker, journalist, presenter and producer, Pierre Tchernia contributed to 60 years of television history, from the RTF to the TNT. His name is associated to an impressive list of TV shows including Cinq colonnes à la une, La Piste aux étoiles and L’Ami public n° 1. In 1966, he introduced a new genre by creating the film news programme with shows like 7e Art – 7e case, Monsieur Cinéma, Mardi Cinéma and Notre télévision.

At the same time, he worked behind the scenes as screen and dialogue writer and adapter, as well as directing his own features like Les Gaspards, La Gueule de l’autre and Bonjour l’angoisse with Michel Serrault, Pierre Arditi and Jean-Pierre Bacri.

On the animation side, he was honorary president of the AFDFA (l’Association française pour la diffusion du film d’animation), the original structure of the Assises du film d’animation français at the institut Lumière in 1983.

The Annecy Festival was honoured to welcome him on several occasions, including honorary president of the event in 1999.

You can check out the interview he made during his first visit here in 1979.