Maggie Cheung in "Irma Vep" (1996)

Édgar Ramírez in "Carlos" (2010)

From Saturday, Oct. 9 to Friday, Oct. 29 BAMcinématek fêtes one of the preeminent living directors, Olivier Assayas, with a complete retrospective of his work to date. This 20 film series, titled Post-Punk Auteur: Olivier Assayas, celebrates the vibrant career of the former film critic turned filmmaker with his early short films, pastoral family pieces, genre-upending techno-dramas, and rarely screened documentaries. This momentous retrospective caps off a banner year here in New York for the director: his newest film, the five-hour-plus epic Carlos, (2010 screening: Oct. 23 & 24) received some of the best notices of his accomplished career when it premiered earlier this year at Cannes before also being selected for the New York Film Festival; and he curated Assayas Picks at this year’s BAMcinemaFEST. As he did for BAMcinemaFEST, Assayas will appear in person at BAM for Q&As. Continue for more on Assayas.

Olivier Assayas, a native Parisian, was born Jan 25, 1955. His father was Jacques Rémy, a screenwriter who, from the 40s through the 70s, penned original works and adaptations for TV and film, including works by René Clair, Roger Vadim, Marcel Camus, and René Clément. As his father’s health failed, Assayas would ghostwrite teleplays for him. And like the nouvelle vague icons three decades before, Assayas cut his teeth writing criticism in the 80s for legendary film journal Cahiers du cinéma, where he wrote not only of French cinema, but also championed Asian filmmakers, most notably Hou Hsiao-hsien, his primary artistic influence. In his peripatetic career trajectory following his days as a journalist, he has built a diverse portfolio that focuses on reckless youth, family dependence, tragic relationships, and the music that ties them altogether. As his affinity for music is so tied to his filmmaking, in 2004 BAMcinématek gave him the chance to curate a series of films based on their soundtracks called I Can Hear the Guitar, which will make this the auteur’s third rendezvous with BAM.

all images courtesy of the BAM