Alex Descas (born January 1, 1958) is a French actor known for his roles in films by Claire Denis and Jim Jarmusch. In France he is also known for his role as Schneider in the French TV series Un Flic.
He is a frequent collaborator of Claire Denis, appearing in more than half of her theatrical feature-length films, including No Fear, No Die , Nénette et Boni , I Can't Sleep, Trouble Every Day , The Intruder, 35 Shots of Rum and Bastards, as well as Ten Minutes Older: The Cello . He is of Antillean (Guadeloupean) descent. [1]
Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1984 | Asphalt Warriors | Blackies leader | Sergio Gobbi | |
1985 | Hell Train | Roger Hanin | ||
Urgence | Gilles Béhat | |||
1986 | Je hais les acteurs | Allan | Gérard Krawczyk | |
Bleu comme l'enfer | The black | Yves Boisset | ||
Taxi Boy | Pascal | Alain Page | ||
Justice de flic | Michel Gérard | |||
1987 | Lady Cops | Josiane Balasko | ||
1988 | Ya bon les blancs | Renault's worker | Marco Ferreri | |
Série noire | Jean Gallieni | Gilles Béhat (2) | ||
1990 | No Fear, No Die | Jocelyn | Claire Denis | Nominated - César Award for Most Promising Actor |
1991 | Contre l'oubli | Dalton Prejean | Denis Amar | Segment: Pour Dalton Prejean, USA |
A Child from the South | Zeto | Sérgio Rezende | TV movie | |
1992 | The Absence | Soldier | Peter Handke | |
1993 | Tout va bien dans le service | Manda | Charlotte Silvera | TV movie |
1994 | The Heart's Cry | Ibrahim Sow | Idrissa Ouedraogo | |
I Can't Sleep | Théo | Claire Denis (2) | ||
1995 | Le grand blanc de Lambaréné | Koumba | Bassek Ba Kobhio | |
Portrait des hommes qui se branlent | Narrator | Vincent Ravalec | Short | |
Le banquet | Christel Milhavet | Short | ||
Never Twice | Vincent Ravalec (2) | Short | ||
Un si joli bouquet | Barthélémy | Jean-Claude Sussfeld | TV movie | |
1996 | Irma Vep | Desormeaux | Olivier Assayas | |
Clubbed to Death | Mambo | Yolande Zauberman | ||
Nénette et Boni | The gynaecologist | Claire Denis (3) | ||
Les Cordier, juge et flic | Sayyid | Alain Wermus | TV series (1 episode) | |
1997 | The House | Sarunas Bartas | ||
Saraka bô | Bataille | Denis Amar (2) | ||
Combats de femme | Désiré | Laurent Dussaux | TV series (1 episode) | |
1998 | Late August, Early September | Jérémie | Olivier Assayas (2) | |
Le serpent a mangé la grenouille | Yves Le Guen | Alain Guesnier | ||
L'honneur de ma famille | Malcolm | Rachid Bouchareb | TV movie | |
La poursuite du vent | John Themba | Nina Companeez | TV Mini-Series | |
1999 | Harem Suare | Nadir | Ferzan Özpetek | |
2000 | Lumumba | Mobutu Sese Seko | Raoul Peck | |
2001 | Trouble Every Day | Léo Semenau | Claire Denis (4) | |
Le mal du pays | Kamanda | Laurent Bachet | Short | |
2002 | Ten Minutes Older | Claire Denis (5) | ||
Tèt Grenné | Richard | Christian Grandman | ||
2003 | Coffee and Cigarettes | Alex | Jim Jarmusch | |
Tiresia | Marignac | Bertrand Bonello | ||
That Woman | Denis | Guillaume Nicloux | ||
La beuze | Shaft | François Desagnat & Thomas Sorriaux | ||
La nuit sera longue | François | Olivier Torres | Short | |
2004 | The Intruder | The priest | Claire Denis (6) | |
Nord-Plage | José Hayot | |||
L'homme qui venait d'ailleurs | Pierre | François Luciani | TV movie | |
2005 | The United States of Albert (Les États-Unis d'Albert) | Nolton Barnett | André Forcier | |
Un couple parfait | Patrick | Nobuhiro Suwa | ||
Nèg maron | Siwo | Jean-Claude Flamand-Barny | ||
Dans tes rêves | Mojo | Denis Thybaud | ||
Close-Up | Ottis | Claude Farge | Short | |
2007 | Boarding Gate | Andrew | Olivier Assayas (3) | |
Kull ! | Nkruma | Anders Skog | Short | |
Déjà vu | Kiff | François Vautier | TV movie | |
Les prédateurs | Pascal Lissouba | Lucas Belvaux | TV series (2 episodes) | |
2008 | 35 Shots of Rum | Lionel | Claire Denis (7) | |
On choisit pas ses parents... | Judge Mauvoisin | Thierry Binisti | TV movie | |
2009 | Persécution | Thomas | Patrice Chéreau | |
Rapt | Lawyer Walser | Lucas Belvaux (2) | ||
The Limits of Control | The Creole | Jim Jarmusch (2) | ||
Négropolitain | Alain | Gary Pierre-Victor | Short | |
La louve | David Santini | Bruno Bontzolakis | TV series (1 episode) | |
2009-12 | Un flic | Schneider | Patrick Dewolf | TV series (10 episodes) |
2013 | Bastards | Dr. Béthanie | Claire Denis (8) | |
Césaire, le Prix de la Liberté | Aimé Césaire | Felix Olivier | TV movie | |
Un enfant en danger | André | Jérôme Cornuau | TV movie | |
2014 | Murder in Pacot | The man | Raoul Peck (2) | |
La vie pure | Léon Damas | Jeremy Banster | ||
Le dos rouge | Scottie | Antoine Barraud | ||
Voilà l'enchaînement | Him | Claire Denis (9) | Short | |
2016 | Chocolat | Victor | Roschdy Zem | |
2017 | Let the Sunshine In | Marc | Claire Denis (10) | |
2018 | Volontaire | Albertini | Hélène Fillières | |
Maya | Frédéric | Mia Hansen-Løve | ||
2019 | On ment toujours à ceux qu'on aime | Juan | Sandrine Dumas | |
2022 | Irma Vep | Gregory Desormeaux | Olivier Assayas (4) | TV miniseries |
Year | Title | Author | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | Les Chants de Maldoror | Comte de Lautréamont | Hans-Peter Cloos | Théâtre Paris-Villette |
Martin Luther King ou la force d'aimer | A. Réa | A. Réa | Théâtre de la Bastille | |
1993 | Passions secrètes | Jacques-Pierre Amette | Patrice Kerbrat | Théâtre Montparnasse |
2002 | The Treatment | Martin Crimp | Nathalie Richard | Théâtre national de Chaillot |
2004 | The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Thornton Wilder | Irina Brook | Théâtre de Sartrouville et des Yvelines |
2005 | L'Île des esclaves | Pierre de Marivaux | Irina Brook (2) | Théâtre de l'Atelier |
2012 | Race | David Mamet | Pierre Laville | Comédie des Champs-Élysées |
2016 | Phèdre | Jean Racine | Krzysztof Warlikowski | Théâtre de l'Odéon |
Claire Denis is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film Beau Travail (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s and of all time. Other acclaimed works include Trouble Every Day (2001), 35 Shots of Rum (2008), White Material (2009), High Life (2018) and Both Sides of the Blade (2022), the last of which won her the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival. For her film Stars at Noon (2022), Denis competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. She won the Grand Prix, sharing the award with Lukas Dhont's film Close.
Trouble Every Day is a 2001 erotic horror film directed by Claire Denis and written by Denis and Jean-Pol Fargeau. It stars Vincent Gallo, Tricia Vessey, Béatrice Dalle, Alex Descas and Marilu Marini. The film's soundtrack is provided by Tindersticks.
Michel Subor was a French actor who gained initial fame with the starring role in Jean-Luc Godard's second feature, Le petit soldat (1960), but the French government banned it until 1963 because of its political content, touching on terrorism during the undeclared Algerian War. He acted in a couple of American films in the late 1960s including the role of Claude Jade's husband in Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz. In 1999, he once again played Forestier in Beau Travail, a highly praised variation of Billy Budd, directed by Claire Denis. He continued to work with her.
Grégoire Colin is a French actor.
The Intruder is a 2004 French drama film directed by Claire Denis. The film had its world premiere in the Competition section at the 61st Venice International Film Festival on 9 September 2004. It was released in France on 4 May 2005.
No Fear, No Die is a 1990 drama film directed by Claire Denis and written by Denis in collaboration with Jean-Pol Fargeau. It features Isaach De Bankolé, Alex Descas and Solveig Dommartin.
I Can't Sleep is a 1994 French drama film written and directed by Claire Denis. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. The film was loosely inspired by the murders committed by Thierry Paulin.
Nénette and Boni is a 1996 French drama film directed by Claire Denis, written by Denis in collaboration with Jean-Pol Fargeau.
Denis Lavant is a French actor. He is known for his distinctive face and the physically demanding aspects of the roles he plays, which often involve slapstick, acrobatics or dance, as well as for his long-standing association with director Leos Carax. Lavant has played the lead role in all but two of Carax's films. Lavant is also known for his roles in Claire Denis' Beau Travail, and Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely.
François Cluzet is a French film and theatre actor. Cluzet has collaborated with many important European and American directors, including Claude Chabrol, Bertrand Tavernier, Claire Denis, Agnieszka Holland, Robert Altman and Olivier Assayas. In 2007, he won a French César Award after starring as a doctor suspected of double homicide in thriller Tell No One. Cluzet may be best known for his role as Philippe in the international hit film The Intouchables (2011).
The Heart's Cry is a 1994 Burkinabé/French drama film directed by Idrissa Ouedraogo.
35 Shots of Rum is a 2008 drama film directed by Claire Denis. It stars Alex Descas, Mati Diop, Nicole Dogue, and Grégoire Colin. It tells the story of a father-daughter relationship complicated by the arrival of an attractive young man. The film had its world premiere out of competition at the 65th Venice International Film Festival on 29 August 2008. It was released in France on 18 February 2009, and in Germany on 5 March 2009.
Sentimental Destinies is a 2000 French drama film directed by Olivier Assayas. Running from the 1890s to the 1930s, the film tells the story of two wealthy Protestant families in the south-west of France: the Pommerels who make cognac and the Barnerys who make porcelain. It was entered into the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.
Bastards is a 2013 thriller film directed by Claire Denis. It stars Vincent Lindon and Chiara Mastroianni. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
That Woman is a 2003 French drama film directed by Guillaume Nicloux. For this film, Josiane Balasko received her third nomination for the César Award for Best Actress.
Lady Cops or Les Keufs is a 1987 French comedy film directed by Josiane Balasko.
Chocolat is a 2016 French drama film directed by Roschdy Zem and starring Omar Sy and James Thiérrée.
Let the Sunshine In, or Bright Sunshine In, is a 2017 French romantic drama film directed by Claire Denis. The film is an adaptation of Roland Barthes's 1977 text A Lover's Discourse: Fragments. Novelist Christine Angot and frequent Denis collaborator Jean-Pol Fargeau have both been reported as Denis's co-writers on the project. It opened the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, it won the SACD Award.
Irma Vep is a comedy drama television miniseries created, written and directed by Olivier Assayas for HBO. Based on Assayas's 1996 film of the same name, the series premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on May 22. It debuted on June 6, 2022 and concluded on July 25, consisting of eight episodes.