Emmanuel Carrère (born 9 December 1957) is a French

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

Life

Family

Carrère was born into a wealthy family in the

16th arrondissement of Paris The 16th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''seizième''. The arrondissement includes part of the Arc de T ...

. His father, Louis Carrère d'Encausse, is a retired insurance executive. His mother, historian

Hélène Carrère d'Encausse Hélène Carrère d'Encausse (; born Hélène Zourabichvili; 6 July 1929) is a French political historian of Georgians in France, Georgian origin, specializing in History of Russia, Russian history. Since 1999, she has served as the Perpetual Sec ...

(born Hélène Zourabichvili, the daughter of

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

émigrés), is a member and perpetual secretary of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

and former

member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

. She is a cousin of

Georgian President Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

Salome Zourabichvili Salome Zourabichvili ( ka, სალომე ზურაბიშვილი, ; born 18 March 1952) is a Franco-Georgian political figure and former diplomat who currently serves as the fifth President of Georgia, in office since December 2018 ...

. Carrère has two sisters: Nathalie Carrère, a lawyer, and Marina Carrère d'Encausse, a doctor, TV Presenter and novelist. He is the nephew of composer

Nicolas Zourabichvili Nicolas Zourabichvili (born 24 October 1936) is a French composer of Georgian origin. Biography Born in Paris, Zourabichvili began piano studies at the Bordeaux conservatory. He studied composition with Nadia Boulanger (1959–1962) and with ...

and cousin of philosopher François Zourabichvili.

Studies

Carrère studied at the

Lycée Janson-de-Sailly Lycée Janson de Sailly is a ''lycée'' located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. The ''lycéens'' of Janson are called ''les jansoniens'' and they usually refer to their high school as Janson, or JdS. It is the biggest academic ins ...

and

Sciences Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public university, Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , a ...

(the Paris Institute of Political Studies).

Career

As an alternative to military service, Carrère taught French for two years in

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

in Indonesia. He then became a film critic for the magazines

Télérama ''Télérama'' is a weekly French cultural and television magazine published in Paris, France. The name is a contraction of its earlier title: ''Télévision-Radio-Cinéma''. Fabienne Pascaud is currently managing editor. Ludovic Desautez is dep ...

and

Positif (magazine) ''Positif'' is a French film magazine, founded in 1952 by Bernard Chardère in Lyon. It is one of two major French-language film magazines, created several months after '' Les Cahiers du cinéma''. The magazine is headquartered in Paris and is pub ...

. In 1982 his first book, a monograph on the film director

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with un ...

, was published. The following year saw the publication of his first novel ''L’amie du jaguar'', in which he drew on his experiences in Indonesia. His second novel, ''Bravoure'', based on the story of

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of scie ...

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

John Polidori John William Polidori (7 September 1795 – 24 August 1821) was a British writer and physician. He is known for his associations with the Romantic movement and credited by some as the creator of the vampire genre of fantasy fiction. His most succ ...

and their stay at

Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial lak ...

in the summer of 1816, was published in 1984. Both Carrère's first and second novels won literary prizes (the 1984 Prix Passion and 1985 Prix littéraire de la Vocation respectively), but it was his third novel, ''La Moustache'', published in 1986, that introduced the author to a wider readership. Carrère later adapted the book for a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, which he also directed and which won the ''Label Europa Cinemas'' prize at the 2005

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. An essay in which Carrère explores alternative history, ''Le détroit de Behring: introduction à l'uchronie'', was also published in 1986. In 1988 Carrère published ''Hors d'atteinte'', a novel about a woman who leaves her life to chance. His next work, published in 1993, was ''Je suis vivant et vous êtes morts'', a fictionalised biography of the American science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. This was followed by a novel, ''La Classe de neige'', which won the 1995

Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine '' La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written ...

and was adapted into a

Claude Miller Claude Miller (20 February 1942 – 4 April 2012) was a French film director, producer and screenwriter. Life and career Claude Miller was born to a Jewish family. A student at Paris' IDHEC film school from 1962 through 1963, Miller had his fi ...

. After the publication of ''La Classe de neige'', Carrère turned his attention to the case of the murderer

Jean-Claude Romand Jean-Claude Romand (born 11 February 1954) is a French spree killer and impostor who pretended to be a medical doctor for 18 years before killing his wife, children and parents in January 1993 when he was about to be exposed. Heavy suspicions a ...

. He corresponded with him in jail and attended his trial. ''

L'Adversaire ''The Adversary'' (french: L'Adversaire) is a 2002 French drama film directed by Nicole Garcia, starring Daniel Auteuil and Géraldine Pailhas. Plot The film is based on the 2000 book of the same name by Emmanuel Carrère which is inspired by the ...

'', published in 2000, became a bestseller in France and was translated into 23 languages. It was adapted into the film of the same name by director

Nicole Garcia Nicole Garcia (born 22 April 1946) is a French actress, film director and screenwriter. Her film '' Charlie Says'' was entered into the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Her film ''Going Away'' was screened in the Special Presentation section at the 20 ...

. In 2007 Carrère published ''Un roman russe'' about a visit to Russia and his Russian roots. In the book he revealed that his maternal grandfather had worked as a translator for the occupying German forces in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and had disappeared in 1944, presumably killed by members of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

. Carrère was on holiday in Sri Lanka when the

Indian Ocean tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

struck. He was in his hotel and not in any personal danger but used the experience as the inspiration for his next book, ''D'autres vies que la mienne'', published in 2009. In 2011 he published Limonov, a biographical novel about the Russian writer and political dissident

Eduard Limonov Eduard Veniaminovich Savenko ( rus, Эдуард Вениаминович Савенко, , ɨdʊˈart vʲɪnʲɪɐˈmʲinəvʲɪtɕ sɐˈvʲenkə, links=yes; 22 February 1943 – 17 March 2020), known by his pen name Eduard Limonov ( rus, Эд ...

. ''Le Royaume'', about the rise of early Christianity, was published in 2014. The book provoked a scandal at the

Franciscan University of Steubenville Franciscan University of Steubenville is a private Franciscan university in Steubenville, Ohio. The university had 3,040 students as of fall 2019, including 2,317 students on campus, in 40 undergraduate and 8 graduate degree programs. The studen ...

and the head of the English Department, who had included the book in the syllabus for an advanced seminar, was removed from his post. In 2016 Carrère published a collection of his journalism, ''Il est avantageux d'avoir où aller''. An edition published in English in 2019 with the title ''97,196 Words: Essays'' includes an article on

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

written in 2017 for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. In his 2020 book ''Yoga'', Carrère writes about his experience of depression and four months spent in the Sainte-Anne Hospital in Paris, where he was diagnosed as bipolar and treated with

ketamine Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic used medically for induction and maintenance of anesthesia. It is also used as a recreational drug. It is one of the safest anesthetics, as, in contrast with opiates, ether, and propofol, it suppresses ne ...

electroconvulsive therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatry, psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroco ...

and

lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid el ...

. From September 2021 to June 2022 Carrère followed the trial of the November 2015 Paris attacks. His weekly articles were published in

L'Obs (), previously known as (1964–2014), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, it is the most prominent French general information magazine in terms of audience and circulation. Its current editor is Cécil ...

in France,

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

in Spain,

la Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnoldo ...

in Italy and

Le Temps ''Le Temps'' (literally "The Time") is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. It is the sole nationwide French-language non-specialised daily newspaper of Switzerland. Since 2021, it has b ...

in Switzerland. In September 2022 his articles, with additional material, were published in the form of a book with the title ''V13''. (In France the trial is known as V13 as the attacks took place on Friday (french: link=no, vendredi) the 13th.) Carrère was a member of the International jury at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and was a member of the jury for the Cinéfoundation and Short Films sections of the

2012 Cannes Film Festival The 65th Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian film director Nanni Moretti was the President of the Jury for the main competition and British actor Tim Roth was the President of the Jury for the Un Certain Regard section. ...

. In 2015, he served on the Jury for the Main Competition at the

2015 Venice Film Festival The 72nd annual Venice International Film Festival took place from 2 to 12 September 2015. Alfonso Cuarón served as the President of the Jury for the main competition. A restored version of Federico Fellini's film '' Amarcord'' was shown at ...

, chaired by

Alfonso Cuarón Alfonso Cuarón Orozco ( , ; born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican filmmaker. He is known for directing films in a variety of genres including the family drama ''A Little Princess (1995 film), A Little Princess'' (1995), the romantic drama ''Gre ...

Personal life

Carrère has been married twice and has a daughter and two sons.

Style

Carrère's work ranges freely between genres and is concerned with the themes of identity, illusion and reality. His prose has been described as "spare and supple".

Awards

*1984: Prix Passion *1985: Prix littéraire de la Vocation *1987: Grand Prix de l'imaginaire *1988: Prix Charles-Oulmont *1988: Prix Kléber-Haedens *1995:

*2007: Prix Duménil *2009: Prix Marie-Claire; prix Crésus *2010: Grand Prix de littérature Henri Gal de l'

*2011:

Prix Renaudot The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or Prix Renaudot () is a French literary award. History The prize was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of deliberation of the jury of the Prix Goncourt. While not officially related to the ...

; Prix de la langue française *2014: Prix littéraire Monde; "Meilleur livre de l'année", awarded by Lire *2015: Mondello Prize *2016: Tomasi di Lampedusa Literary Prize *2017: Prix FIL de littérature en langues romanes. *2018: Prix de la

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

(BnF) *2019:

Premio Hemingway The Premio Hemingway (Hemingway Prize) is an international arts award established by the municipality of Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy in 1984. Lignano, situated on a small peninsula between Venice and Trieste is a place where Ernest Hemingway spent ...

*2021:

Princess of Asturias Award The Princess of Asturias Awards ( es, Premios Princesa de Asturias, links=no, ast, Premios Princesa d'Asturies, links=no), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 ( es, Premios Príncipe de Asturias, links=no), are a series of a ...

for Literature;

Visions du Réel Visions du Réel (Visions of Reality) is an internationally renowned documentary film festival held in April each year in Nyon, Switzerland. Established in 1969 as the Nyon International Documentary Film Festival, the event adopted its current na ...

Honorary Award; Taobuk Award for Literary Excellence; Premio Napoli

Bibliography

* ''

'' (1982) * ''L'Amie du jaguar'' (''The Jaguar's Friend'') (1983) * ''Bravoure'' (1984) (translated as ''Gothic Romance'', 1990) * ''Le Détroit de Behring'' (''The Behring Strait'') (1984) (German: '' Kleopatras Nase. Kleine Geschichte der Uchronie.'' Gatza, Berlin 1993.) * ''

La Moustache ''La Moustache'' (in English, ''The Moustache'') is a French film from 2005, directed by Emmanuel Carrère and starring Vincent Lindon, and adapted from Carrère's own novel. The film features music from Philip Glass. The film was awarded the '' ...

'' (1986) (translated as ''The Mustache'', 1988) * ''Hors d'atteinte'' (''Out of Reach'') (1988) * ''Je suis vivant et vous êtes morts'' (1993) (''I Am Alive and You Are Dead: A Journey into the Mind of Philip K. Dick'', translated by Timothy Bent, 2005). * '' La Classe de neige'' (1995) (''Class Trip: A Novel'', translated by Linda Coverdale, 1997). Winner of the

Prix Fémina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine '' La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written ...

Adapted in 1998 as the film of the same name directed by

. * ''

'' (2000) (''The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception'', translated by Linda Coverdale, 2002). * ''Un roman russe'' (2007) (''My Life as a Russian Novel'', translated by Linda Coverdale, 2011) *''D'autres vies que la mienne'' (2009) ('' Lives Other Than My Own,'' translated by Linda Coverdale, 2012) * '' Limonov'' (2011), a biography of

(''Limonov: The Outrageous Adventures'', translated by John Lambert, 2015) * ''Le Royaume'' (2014) (''The Kingdom: A Novel'', translated by John Lambert, 2017) *''Il est avantageux d'avoir où aller'' (2016) (''97,196 Words: Essays'', partial translation into English by John Lambert, 2019) *''Yoga'' (2020), (translated by John Lambert, 2022) *''V13'' (2022)

Selected filmography

* 1996 : '' la Classe de Neige'' by

, adapted from Carrère's book of the same name. * 2002 : ''

'' by

and

Daniel Auteuil Daniel Auteuil (; born 24 January 1950) is a French actor and director who has appeared in a wide range of film genres, including period dramas, romantic comedies, and crime thrillers. In 1996 he won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Fest ...

, screenwriter. * 2003 : '' Retour à Kotelnitch'', director. * 2005 : ''

'', director and screenwriter, along with

Emmanuelle Devos Emmanuelle Devos (born 10 May 1964) is a French actress. She is the daughter of actress Marie Henriau. She won the César Award for Best Actress in 2002 for her performance in ''Sur mes lèvres'', directed by Jacques Audiard. She has also been ...

and

Vincent Lindon Vincent Lindon (born 15 July 1959) is a French actor and filmmaker. For his role in the film '' The Measure of a Man'' (2015), Lindon won Best Actor at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, Best Actor at the 41st César Awards and the IFFI Best Act ...

. * 2009 : ''

I'm Glad My Mother Is Alive I Am or I'm may refer to: Language and literature * " I Am that I Am", a common English translation of the response God used in the Hebrew Bible when Moses asked for His name ** I am (biblical term), a Christian term used in the Bible * "I Am" (p ...

'', based on an article by Carrère. * 2011 : ''

All Our Desires ''All Our Desires'' (french: Toutes nos envies) is a 2011 French drama film directed by Philippe Lioret. Marie Gillain was nominated for the Magritte Award for Best Actress for her role. The screenplay was adapted loosely from the 2009 French no ...

'', adapted from his book '' Other Lives But Mine''. * 2020 : '' Le Quai de Ouistreham'', adopted from Florence Aubenas's book of the same name. Released in English as ''Between Two Worlds'' in 2021.

Notes

References

External links

Emmanuel Carrère
– Photos by Mathieu Bourgois. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carrere, Emmanuel 1957 births Living people Writers from Paris French male screenwriters French screenwriters 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French male writers 21st-century French novelists French biographers French people of Georgian descent French people of Russian descent Prix Femina winners Prix Renaudot winners Prix Valery Larbaud winners French film directors Sciences Po alumni French male novelists 20th-century biographers 21st-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers Male biographers Zourabichvili family