F.J. Ossang

F.J. Ossang (born 1956) studied philosophy and law before starting his artistic career in the middle of the 1970s with the publication of poetic texts. He debuted as filmmaker in 1982 with La dernière énigmem, his graduation film at La Fémis, the film and television school of PSL Research University. His debut feature The Case of the Morituri Divisions premiered in Cannes in 1985. Treasure of Bitch Islands (1990), his second feature, won the Best Film Award in Belfort. In 1998, a retrospective about Ossang's work featured at Festival de La Rochelle after which more festivals followed.

Ciel éteint ! (2008)

A couple lives at the margins of empires. A montage of water, medicine, fire, ice. Sky's Black Out!  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Guy McKnight  •  Elvire

A couple lives at the margins of empires. A montage of water, medicine, fire, ice. Sky's Black Out!  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Guy McKnight  •  Elvire

The Case of the Morituri Divisions (1985)

The story about gladiators against a German background. One of them, Ettore, has become a star of the underworld. He ends up breaking down, caught in a role he can no longer fulfill. His last betrayal is to spill the beans to the press. –São Paulo International ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Gina Lola Benzina  •  Philippe Sfez  •  Lionel Tua  •  Frankie Tavezzano

The story about gladiators against a German background. One of them, Ettore, has become a star of the underworld. He ends up breaking down, caught in a role he can no longer fulfill. His last betrayal is to spill the beans to the press. –São Paulo International ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Gina Lola Benzina  •  Philippe Sfez  •  Lionel Tua  •  Frankie Tavezzano

Treasure of the Bitch Islands (1990)

The world after the atomic age. An engineer disappears, together with his consortium (Kryo'Corp) and his discovery: a new energy source powered by the fusion of two primary substances. Ulysses, Kryo'Corp's heir, organises an expedition to the only place these ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Stéphane Ferrara  •  Diogo Dória  •  José Wallenstein  •  Mapi Galán

The world after the atomic age. An engineer disappears, together with his consortium (Kryo'Corp) and his discovery: a new energy source powered by the fusion of two primary substances. Ulysses, Kryo'Corp's heir, organises an expedition to the only place these ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Stéphane Ferrara  •  Diogo Dória  •  José Wallenstein  •  Mapi Galán

Silencio (2007)

Trees, the sea, megaliths, an iron bridge, a feminine figure filmed at the dying of the day.  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Elvire  •  Antonio Camara

Trees, the sea, megaliths, an iron bridge, a feminine figure filmed at the dying of the day.  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Elvire  •  Antonio Camara

Vladivostok! (2008)

Fragments of a lost 1920s from a member of the soviet avant-garde.  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST: 

Fragments of a lost 1920s from a member of the soviet avant-garde.  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST: 

Doctor Chance (1998)

Angstel trades in forged paintings, under the guidance of his mother, Milady. Their network extends into other murky affairs, provoking the wrath of a rival gang. Angstel falls in love with Ancetta, a prostitute, and flees with her to the north of Chile. - IFFR  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Pedro Hestnes  •  Elvire  •  Marisa Paredes  •  Stéphane Ferrara

Angstel trades in forged paintings, under the guidance of his mother, Milady. Their network extends into other murky affairs, provoking the wrath of a rival gang. Angstel falls in love with Ancetta, a prostitute, and flees with her to the north of Chile. - IFFR  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Pedro Hestnes  •  Elvire  •  Marisa Paredes  •  Stéphane Ferrara

Dharma Guns (2011)

The film opens on a water-skiing accident - a girl (Délie) drives a speedboat and pulls a young man (Stan). They are both challenging their own limits when a crash occurs... Stan wakes up from a coma after this serious accident, to find out that genealogists are ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Guy McKnight  •  Elvire  •  Lionel Tua  •  Diogo Dória

The film opens on a water-skiing accident - a girl (Délie) drives a speedboat and pulls a young man (Stan). They are both challenging their own limits when a crash occurs... Stan wakes up from a coma after this serious accident, to find out that genealogists are ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Guy McKnight  •  Elvire  •  Lionel Tua  •  Diogo Dória

Cinématon (1978)

Cinématon is a 156-hour long experimental film by French director Gérard Courant. It was the longest film ever released until 2011. Composed over 36 years from 1978 until 2006, it consists of a series of over 2,821 silent vignettes (cinématons), each 3 minutes and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Fernando Arrabal  •  Roberto Benigni  •  Gaël Badaud  •  Alain-Alcide Sudre

Cinématon is a 156-hour long experimental film by French director Gérard Courant. It was the longest film ever released until 2011. Composed over 36 years from 1978 until 2006, it consists of a series of over 2,821 silent vignettes (cinématons), each 3 minutes and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Fernando Arrabal  •  Roberto Benigni  •  Gaël Badaud  •  Alain-Alcide Sudre

The Amazed Spectator (2016)

A kino-investigation about spectatorship, a continuous conversation between different kinds of spectators: which one is more cinema: Citizen Kane on a mobile phone or a football game projected in a cinema theatre? What is the cinema of uncertainty? How many kinds ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Edgar Pêra
CAST:  Laura Mulvey  •  Miguel Borges  •  Eduardo Lourenço  •  Olaf Möller

A kino-investigation about spectatorship, a continuous conversation between different kinds of spectators: which one is more cinema: Citizen Kane on a mobile phone or a football game projected in a cinema theatre? What is the cinema of uncertainty? How many kinds ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Edgar Pêra
CAST:  Laura Mulvey  •  Miguel Borges  •  Eduardo Lourenço  •  Olaf Möller

9 Fingers (2018)

In the middle of the night, Magloire is smoking a cigarette in an abandoned train station when the police shows up for an ID check. He starts running with no luggage, no future until he meets a dying man from whom he inherits a fortune. Magloire is now pursued by a ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Paul Hamy  •  Damien Bonnard  •  Pascal Greggory  •  Gaspard Ulliel

In the middle of the night, Magloire is smoking a cigarette in an abandoned train station when the police shows up for an ID check. He starts running with no luggage, no future until he meets a dying man from whom he inherits a fortune. Magloire is now pursued by a ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Paul Hamy  •  Damien Bonnard  •  Pascal Greggory  •  Gaspard Ulliel

La dernière énigme (1982)

In-between essay and fiction, La dernière énigme established Ossang's formal territory: a contemporary mythology. Inspired by the book On Terrorism and the State by Gianfranco Sanguinetti, it evokes visual echoes of political events, where a generation forfeits all ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Gina Lola Benzina  •  Robert Cordier  •  F.J. Ossang  •  Leslie Stiles

In-between essay and fiction, La dernière énigme established Ossang's formal territory: a contemporary mythology. Inspired by the book On Terrorism and the State by Gianfranco Sanguinetti, it evokes visual echoes of political events, where a generation forfeits all ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Gina Lola Benzina  •  Robert Cordier  •  F.J. Ossang  •  Leslie Stiles

Zona inquinata (1983)

La Zone - the poor, dangerous quarters of Paris (George Lacombe, 1928); the administrative zone where Orpheus looks for his lost Eurydice (Jean Cocteau, 1950); Interzone - the working title for Naked Lunch (W.S. Burroughs, 1959). In 1983, Ossang created a synthesis ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Robert Cordier  •  Philippe Sfez  •  Leslie Stiles  •  Lionel Tua

La Zone - the poor, dangerous quarters of Paris (George Lacombe, 1928); the administrative zone where Orpheus looks for his lost Eurydice (Jean Cocteau, 1950); Interzone - the working title for Naked Lunch (W.S. Burroughs, 1959). In 1983, Ossang created a synthesis ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  F.J. Ossang
CAST:  Robert Cordier  •  Philippe Sfez  •  Leslie Stiles  •  Lionel Tua

Portrait de groupe (1986)

Portrait de groupe is a film series of filmed portraits that shows all kinds of groups gathered under family pretexts, friendly or professional, in a single fixed, wide shot (style: family photo) and silent of 3 minutes and 20 seconds.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Alain Paucard  •  Joseph Morder  •  Pierre Gripari  •  Françoise Michaud

Portrait de groupe is a film series of filmed portraits that shows all kinds of groups gathered under family pretexts, friendly or professional, in a single fixed, wide shot (style: family photo) and silent of 3 minutes and 20 seconds.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Alain Paucard  •  Joseph Morder  •  Pierre Gripari  •  Françoise Michaud

The Adventures of Eddie Turley (1987)

Poetic sci-fi film as an homage to Cinema, Cocteau, Goodis and to American B-series of the 1940s. Constructed exclusively on photograms in black and white and freely inspired on Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Philippe Dubuquoy  •  Françoise Michaud  •  Joël Barbouth  •  Mariola San Martin

Poetic sci-fi film as an homage to Cinema, Cocteau, Goodis and to American B-series of the 1940s. Constructed exclusively on photograms in black and white and freely inspired on Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Philippe Dubuquoy  •  Françoise Michaud  •  Joël Barbouth  •  Mariola San Martin

Philippe Garrel à Digne (Second voyage) (2010)

On the occasion of the 7th meetings of Digne, Pour un autre cinéma, organized by Pierre Queyrel and which presented a retrospective of Philippe Garrel's cinematographic work, this film is the sound recording of the discussion that the filmmaker made with the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Philippe Garrel  •  Pierre Queyrel  •  Roselyne Queyrel  •  Robert Kramer

On the occasion of the 7th meetings of Digne, Pour un autre cinéma, organized by Pierre Queyrel and which presented a retrospective of Philippe Garrel's cinematographic work, this film is the sound recording of the discussion that the filmmaker made with the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Philippe Garrel  •  Pierre Queyrel  •  Roselyne Queyrel  •  Robert Kramer

Crime (2010)

Muinski, a dealer, lives at night in an old, mysterious project. He's accompanied by Tô, an Asian man who is dying. Tired and lacking clients, Muinski wants to shut down his business and to set up a bookstore. But he starts receiving strange packets containing ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Vincent Ostria
CAST:  Éva Ionesco  •  Philippe Petit  •  Paul Nguyen  •  Cyril Aubin

Muinski, a dealer, lives at night in an old, mysterious project. He's accompanied by Tô, an Asian man who is dying. Tired and lacking clients, Muinski wants to shut down his business and to set up a bookstore. But he starts receiving strange packets containing ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Vincent Ostria
CAST:  Éva Ionesco  •  Philippe Petit  •  Paul Nguyen  •  Cyril Aubin

Cinématon n°52 : F.J. Ossang (1979)

Early portrait of Ossang in Courant's ongoing "Cinématon" series.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  F.J. Ossang

Early portrait of Ossang in Courant's ongoing "Cinématon" series.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  F.J. Ossang

Je meurs de soif, j'étouffe, je ne puis crier... (1979)

"This is the story of a search, that of a woman in pursuit of her own identity. This woman, Marie-Noëlle Kauffmann, ventures into the world of representation, meets four characters who, each in their own way, give her a key to cross the five sequences/initiations ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Marie-Noëlle Kauffmann  •  Gina Lola Benzina  •  F.J. Ossang  •  Philippe Garrel

"This is the story of a search, that of a woman in pursuit of her own identity. This woman, Marie-Noëlle Kauffmann, ventures into the world of representation, meets four characters who, each in their own way, give her a key to cross the five sequences/initiations ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Marie-Noëlle Kauffmann  •  Gina Lola Benzina  •  F.J. Ossang  •  Philippe Garrel

 (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Roland Lethem  •  Gérard Lester  •  Gérard Courant  •  Ulrich Gregor

Cinématon VI (1979)

Reel 6 of Gérard Courant's on-going Cinematon series.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Adolfo Arrieta  •  Abdou Achouba  •  F.J. Ossang  •  Gina Lola Benzina

Reel 6 of Gérard Courant's on-going Cinematon series.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gérard Courant
CAST:  Adolfo Arrieta  •  Abdou Achouba  •  F.J. Ossang  •  Gina Lola Benzina