Directing
Frédéric Rossif
Born August 14, 1922 · Cetinje, Yugoslavia [now Serbia and Montenegro]
Died April 18, 1990 · aged 67
Frédéric Rossif (February 16, 1922 – April 18, 1990) was a French film and television director who specialized primarily in documentaries, frequently using archive footage. Rossif's common themes included wildlife, 20th-century history and contemporary artists. He frequently collaborated with notable composers Maurice Jarre and Vangelis. Rossif was born in Cetinje, Montenegro, Yugoslavia. His fam…
Known For
Royal Affairs in Versailles · 1953Royal Affairs in Versailles
★ 6.71953
MovieDramaHistory
Witty narration follows the history of Versailles Palace; founded by Louis XIII, enlarged by autocratic Louis XIV, whose personal affairs and amours, and those of his two successors, are pursued in more detail to the start of the Revolution, after which the story is brought rapidly up to date.
Auntie Danielle · 1990Auntie Danielle
★ 6.51990
MovieComedyDrama
A black comedy about a widow who mourns the death of her husband by tormenting everyone she meets.
Portrait: Orson Welles · 1968Portrait: Orson Welles
★ 6.91968
MovieDocumentary
Excerpts and fragments from different interviews with Orson Welles making a statement to journalists in fluent French about his career and his conception of life.
To Die in Madrid · 1963To Die in Madrid
★ 7.71963
MovieDocumentary
Morir en Madrid brings together several papers on the Spanish Civil War and integrates capturing different points of view, intended to represent the continuity of the suffering of the Spanish during the Franco regime. The death of Federico Garcia Lorca, Guernica, the defense of Madrid, the International Brigades, are some of the items comprised in this document.
October Revolution · 1967October Revolution
★ 10.01967
MovieDocumentary
French director Frederic Rossif presents this historical documentary that coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Stock footage from both World Wars are included with 30 minutes of new scenes filmed especially for the project. The historical timeline is traced from the time Czar Nicholas II is crowned. The emergence of Lenin, his death in 1924, and the later contributions of Trotsky and Stalin give the viewer a sense of death, betrayal, and ideological devotion to the communist agenda. Rossif effectively uses scenes from the landmark 1929 film The Man With A Movie Camera by celebrated director Dziga Vertov. Rossif researched the film archives from several countries in his meticulous gathering of materials for this timely historical feature.
As Far as Love Can Go · 1971As Far as Love Can Go
★ 10.01971
MovieDrama
The boyfriend of Isabelle has just committed suicide. Therefore Isabelle roams the streets of Paris until she decides to change her life radically and leave the city. She travels to the coast where she meets a young history professor on the beach...
The Witnesses · 1961The Witnesses
★ 7.31961
MovieDocumentary
This film brings to life a vanished world: that of the Warsaw Ghetto, destroyed by the Nazis after the 1944 uprising. Two authentic "reconstruction" sources have been used to this end: photographic and cinematographic documents recorded at the time and discovered in Poland, East Germany, Israel and France; and the oral testimonies of 44 survivors, invited to evoke their personal tragedy in front of the images put before their eyes.
Matisse · 1951Matisse
★ 5.01951
MovieDocumentary
Between 1950 and 1955, Henri Langlois tried to produce, on behalf of the Cinémathèque française, several films devoted to great artists, with their cooperation, by entrusting them with virgin film stock. Wrote Langlois on the unfinished project, epic in scope: "We had the idea of asking poets, painters, scholars, writers and even repressed filmmakers [...] to make films in 16mm, with the means at hand, without taking into account any commercial concern or censorship." What precious little came of the project was eight minutes of film from Matisse and twenty-some from Marc Chagall, released at a later date.













