Serge Silberman (1 May 1917 – 22 July 2003) was a French film producer known for his collaborations with several major European and Japanese filmmakers, including Luis Buñuel, Akira Kurosawa, Jean-Pierre Melville, René Clément, Jacques Becker, and Nagisa Oshima.

Early life

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Silberman was born in Łódź, then a part of the Regency Kingdom of Poland, to a Jewish family.

During World War II, Silberman survived Nazi concentration camps and eventually settled in Paris.

Career

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One of his first works as a film producer was Jean-Pierre Melville's 1955 film Bob the Gambler, a precursor to the French New Wave movement.

Silberman's most notable collaborations were with the surrealist film director Luis Buñuel. The pair, along with screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, who Silberman introduced to Buñuel, worked together on a number of films, starting with the 1964 film Diary of a Chambermaid. Silberman produced most of Buñuel's late films, including the Academy Award winner The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie in 1972 and the director's last film That Obscure Object of Desire in 1977.

Silberman founded his own production company, Greenwich Film Productions, in 1966. The company was responsible for the production of over 15 films. In 1981, Silberman produced his most financially successful film, Jean-Jacques Beineix's Diva. The film was not well received in the country of its origin, France, but became a box-office hit abroad. The money gained from the movie enabled Silberman to provide funding for Akira Kurosawa's ambitious 1985 film Ran, which at the time of its making was the most expensive Japanese film ever.

Silberman was awarded an honorary César Award in 1988.

Death

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He died in Paris in 2003 at the age of 86.[1]

Selected filmography

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Year Title Director
1956 Bob le flambeur Jean-Pierre Melville
1958 Le désert de Pigalle Léo Joannon
1960 Le Trou Jacques Becker
1961 The Nina B. Affair Robert Siodmak
1962 Bird of Paradise Marcel Camus
1963 Shéhérazade Pierre Gaspard-Huit
1964 Gibraltar
Diary of a Chambermaid Luis Buñuel
1966 Galia Georges Lautner
Chartres sur table Jesús Franco
1967 The Diabolical Dr. Z
Le grand bidule Raoul André
1968 Farewell, Friend Jean Vautrin
1968 Love in the Night Marcel Camus
1969 The Milky Way Luis Buñuel
1970 Rider on the Rain René Clément
1972 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie Luis Buñuel
And Hope to Die René Clément
1974 The Phantom of Liberty Luis Buñuel
1976 Les mal parties Sébastien Japrisot
La fille d'amerique David Newman (screenwriter)
1977 That Obscure Object of Desire Luis Buñuel
1978 Sophie et le Capitaine Liliane de Kermadec
1981 Diva Jean-Jacques Beineix
1983 Exposed James Toback
1985 A.K. Chris Marker
Ran Akira Kurosawa
1986 Max, Mon Amour Nagisa Oshima
1988 Hemingway (miniseries) Bernhard Sinkel
1991 Anna Karamazoff Rustam Khamdamov
1991 La thune Phillippe Galland
1997 Les paradoxes de Buñuel Jorge Amat

References

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  1. ^ Klaussmann, Liza (23 July 2003). "Serge Silberman". Variety.
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