André Delvaux

Belgian filmmaker and television director André Delvaux is best known for his internationally distinguished debut feature The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short (1966). His passion for film began around 1950 when he worked as a silent film accompanist at the Belgian Cinémathèque. Prior to that he had simultaneously studied German philosophy and law at the Free University of Brussells and piano at Belgium's Royal Conservatory; he had also taught classes at his alma mater. Later Delavaux was designated the leader of a program designed to educate Belgian teachers about films; he then created a seminar on the language of film for the sociology department at the Free University. As a director, Delvaux started out in television with a documentary miniseries biography of Federico Fellini in 1960. Through the decade, he made other similar documentaries about other prominent directors. His subsequent feature films have also won considerable critical acclaim, especially his 1971 effort Rendez-vous a Bray, which won the Louis Delluc Prize.

~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide