Jules Dassin

Born in 1911 in Connecticut, Jules Dassin went to Hollywood in 1940 where he worked for Alfred Hitchcock and Garson Kanin, before making his first feature film The Tell Tale Heart in 1941. He then directed several film noirs, including Brute Force (1947), The Naked City (1948) and Night and the City (1950).

In 1951, he was denounced by HUAC (the House of Un-American Activities Committee) for communist sympathies. Because he refused to testify, he was black-listed and subsequently moved to France. There, he made Du riffifi chez les hommes (1955), for which he won the Best Director Prize at the Cannes Festival. He also made Pote tin Kyriaki (1960), which garnered two Oscar nominations. He returned to the USA where he made Topkapi (1960). Jules Dassin died in March 2008.

Locarno Festival