Writing

Suzanne Schiffman

Born September 27, 1929 · Paris, France

Died June 6, 2001 · aged 71

Suzanne Schiffman (née Klochendler, 27 September 1929 – 6 June 2001) was a screenwriter and director for numerous motion pictures. She often worked with François Truffaut. The 'script girl' Joelle, played by Nathalie Baye in Truffaut's Day for Night was based on Schiffman. It accurately portrayed the close collaboration she had with Truffaut and other directors. Her Jewish mother was detained by …

Known For

Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 · 1966

MovieDramaScience Fiction

In the future, the government maintains control of public opinion by outlawing literature and maintaining a group of enforcers, known as “firemen,” to perform the necessary book burnings. Fireman Montag begins to question the morality of his vocation…

Stolen Kisses

Stolen Kisses · 1968

MovieComedyDrama

The third in a series of films featuring François Truffaut's alter-ego, Antoine Doinel, the story resumes with Antoine being discharged from military service. His sweetheart Christine's father lands Antoine a job as a security guard, which he promptly loses. Stumbling into a position assisting a private detective, Antoine falls for his employers' seductive wife, Fabienne, and finds that he must choose between the older woman and Christine.

The Last Metro

The Last Metro · 1980

MovieDramaRomance

In occupied Paris, an actress wed to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Nazis while doing both of their jobs.

Love at Twenty

Love at Twenty · 1962

MovieDramaRomance

Love at Twenty unites five directors from five different countries to present their different perspectives on what love really is at the age of 20. The episodes are united with the score of Georges Delerue and still photos of Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Contempt

Contempt · 1963

MovieDramaRomance

Art film producer Jeremy Prokosch, unhappy with the work of his director, hires Fritz Lang (as himself) to direct an adaptation of The Odyssey, but when it seems that the legendary filmmaker is making a picture destined to bomb, he brings in a screenwriter to energise the script. The professional intersects with the personal when a rift develops between the writer and his wife.

The Soft Skin

The Soft Skin · 1964

MovieDramaRomance

Pierre Lachenay is a well-known publisher and lecturer, married to Franca and father of Sabine. He starts a love affair with air hostess Nicole, which Pierre is hiding, but he cannot stay away from her.

Vivre Sa Vie

Vivre Sa Vie · 1962

Twelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.

Jules and Jim

Jules and Jim · 1962

MovieDramaRomance

In the carefree days before World War I, introverted Austrian author Jules strikes up a friendship with the exuberant Frenchman Jim and both men fall for the impulsive and beautiful Catherine.

Filmography

Sort

Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 · 1966

MovieDramaScience Fiction

In the future, the government maintains control of public opinion by outlawing literature and maintaining a group of enforcers, known as “firemen,” to perform the necessary book burnings. Fireman Montag begins to question the morality of his vocation…

First Assistant Director

Stolen Kisses

Stolen Kisses · 1968

MovieComedyDrama

The third in a series of films featuring François Truffaut's alter-ego, Antoine Doinel, the story resumes with Antoine being discharged from military service. His sweetheart Christine's father lands Antoine a job as a security guard, which he promptly loses. Stumbling into a position assisting a private detective, Antoine falls for his employers' seductive wife, Fabienne, and finds that he must choose between the older woman and Christine.

Script Supervisor

The Last Metro

The Last Metro · 1980

MovieDramaRomance

In occupied Paris, an actress wed to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Nazis while doing both of their jobs.

Screenplay

Love at Twenty

Love at Twenty · 1962

MovieDramaRomance

Love at Twenty unites five directors from five different countries to present their different perspectives on what love really is at the age of 20. The episodes are united with the score of Georges Delerue and still photos of Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Script Supervisor

Contempt

Contempt · 1963

MovieDramaRomance

Art film producer Jeremy Prokosch, unhappy with the work of his director, hires Fritz Lang (as himself) to direct an adaptation of The Odyssey, but when it seems that the legendary filmmaker is making a picture destined to bomb, he brings in a screenwriter to energise the script. The professional intersects with the personal when a rift develops between the writer and his wife.

Script Supervisor

The Soft Skin

The Soft Skin · 1964

MovieDramaRomance

Pierre Lachenay is a well-known publisher and lecturer, married to Franca and father of Sabine. He starts a love affair with air hostess Nicole, which Pierre is hiding, but he cannot stay away from her.

Script Supervisor

Vivre Sa Vie

Vivre Sa Vie · 1962

Twelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.

Script Supervisor

Jules and Jim

Jules and Jim · 1962

MovieDramaRomance

In the carefree days before World War I, introverted Austrian author Jules strikes up a friendship with the exuberant Frenchman Jim and both men fall for the impulsive and beautiful Catherine.

Script Supervisor

Shoot the Piano Player

Shoot the Piano Player · 1960

Shoot the Piano Player

MovieDramaThriller

Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy Paris bar. When Charlie's brothers, Richard and Chico, surface and ask for Charlie's help while on the run from gangsters they have scammed, he aids their escape. Soon Charlie and Lena, a waitress at the same bar, face trouble when the gangsters arrive, looking for his brothers.

Script Supervisor

Lola

MovieDramaRomance

A bored young man meets with his former girlfriend, now a cabaret dancer and single mother, and soon finds himself falling back in love with her.

Script

Bed and Board

Bed and Board · 1970

MovieComedyDrama

Parisian everyman Antoine Doinel has married his sweetheart Christine Darbon, and the newlyweds have set up a cozy domestic life of selling flowers and giving violin lessons while Antoine fitfully works on his long-gestating novel. As Christine becomes pregnant with the couple's first child, Antoine finds himself enraptured with a young Japanese beauty. The complications change the course of their relationship forever.

First Assistant Director

Day for Night

Day for Night · 1973

MovieComedyDrama

A committed filmmaker struggles to complete his latest project while coping with a myriad of crises, personal and professional, among the cast and crew.

Writer

The Bride Wore Black

The Bride Wore Black · 1968

The Bride Wore Black

MovieCrimeDrama

Julie Kohler is prevented from suicide by her mother. She leaves home with the intent to track down, charm and kill five men who do not know her. What is her goal? What is her purpose?

Script Supervisor

Band of Outsiders

Band of Outsiders · 1964

Band of Outsiders

MovieCrimeDrama

Cinephile slackers Franz and Arthur spend their days mimicking the antiheroes of Hollywood noirs and Westerns while pursuing the lovely Odile. The misfit trio upends convention at every turn, be it through choreographed dances in cafés or frolicsome romps through the Louvre. Eventually, their romantic view of outlaws pushes them to plan their own heist, but their inexperience may send them out in a blaze of glory -- which could be just what they want.

Script Supervisor

Mississippi Mermaid

Mississippi Mermaid · 1969

Mississippi Mermaid

MovieRomanceDrama

A tobacco planter on Réunion island in the Indian Ocean becomes engaged through correspondence to a French woman he does not know. The woman that arrives does not look like the picture he received, but he marries her anyway.

Script Supervisor

The Story of Adèle H.

The Story of Adèle H. · 1975

The Story of Adèle H.

MovieDramaHistory

In the 19th century a mysterious woman named Adele H. crosses the ocean, from Europe to North America, to relentlessly pursue a handsome officer that denies her satisfaction.

Screenplay

A Woman Is a Woman

A Woman Is a Woman · 1961

A Woman Is a Woman

MovieComedyDrama

Longing for a baby, a stripper pursues another man in order to make her boyfriend jealous.

Script Supervisor

The Wild Child

The Wild Child · 1970

MovieDramaHistory

The true story of Victor of Aveyron. In a French forest circa 1798, an abandoned child — feral, filthy and mentally impaired — is found. Dr Jean Marc Gaspard Itard becomes interested in the case and patiently attempts to civilise the boy.

Assistant Director

La Chinoise

La Chinoise · 1967

MovieDramaComedy

A small group of French students are studying Mao, trying to find out their position in the world and how to change the world to a Maoistic community using terrorism.

Script Supervisor

The Woman Next Door

The Woman Next Door · 1981

The Woman Next Door

MovieDramaRomance

Two ex-lovers wind up living next door to each other with their respective spouses. Forbidden passions ensue.

Screenplay

The Man Who Loved Women

The Man Who Loved Women · 1977

The Man Who Loved Women

MovieDramaComedy

At Bertrand Morane's burial there are many of the women that the 40-year-old engineer loved. In flashback Bertrand's life and love affairs are told by himself while writing an autobiographical novel.

Screenplay

Love on the Run

Love on the Run · 1979

Love on the Run

MovieRomanceDrama

Now in his thirties, Antoine Doinel is a divorced proofreader in love with a record seller. Colette Tazzi, now a lawyer, buys his first published autobiography, leading them to a chance meeting.

Screenplay

The Married Woman

The Married Woman · 1964

The Married Woman

MovieDramaRomance

A superficial woman finds conflict choosing between her abusive husband and her vain lover.

Script Supervisor

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights · 1985

Wuthering Heights

MovieMysteryDrama

In 1930s south of France, young orphan Roch is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Lindon, a man of means who befits her stature. Roch vows to win her back.

Screenplay

Out 1

SeriesDramaMystery

Following the May 1968 civil unrest in France, two theater groups rehearse plays by Aeschylus while two solitary individuals wander the Parisian streets hustling the populace for cash.

Co-Director