Riad Sattouf
Encyclopedia
Riad Sattouf is a French
writer and cartoonist
comics
and film director
of Syria
n origin (born in Paris
, France
on 5 May 1978). He is best known for his weekly comics in the French weekly Charlie Hebdo
entitled La vie secrète des jeunes
and for his award winning film Les Beaux Gosses
(The French Kissers).
, Libya
and Syria
, but returned to France to spend his adolescence in Brittany, where he studied in Rennes
. An avid reader of cartoon books and periodicals, sent to him by his grandmother, he was fascinated by them. Although he was studying to become a pilot, he applied to study at École Pivaut and then Gobelins L'Ecole de L'Image
to study animation. The famous cartoonist Olivier Vatine noticed his talent and introduced him to Guy Delcourt
who was the owner of a cartoon Delcourt Publishing House
specializing in cartoons that published his first book Petit Verglas based on a story line by Éric Corbeyran.
In a unique personal and humorous style, he narrated his own adolescent life observations in Manuel du puceau and Ma Circoncision published by Bréal Jeunesse Publishing House owned by Joann Sfar
. The books were later reprinted by L'Association Publishing House
. In Ma circoncision, he denounced circumcision
as a cruel and absurd act, superimposed on the context of the socio-political life in his ancestral Syria in the 1980s.
He then published the Jérémie series in the cartoon collection Poisson Pilote published by Dargaud
, resulting in three books of the series. Jérémie was the story of a young sentimental and unstable youth growing to adulthood and was very autobiographical, also appearing in No sex in New York in 2004 upon the initiative of the French left-wing daily Libération
.
In 2005 he published Retour au collège which was a big success. Encouraged by this, Riad Sattouf created the very macho et ambivalent character Pascal Brutal.
Since 2004, he has been publishing a weekly feature in the satirical French weekly Charlie Hebdo entitled "La vie secrète des jeunes", recounting real life anectodes. Series were republished in two volumes, one in 2007 and the other in 2010.
Riad Sattouf also experimented with film dubbing
by giving his voice to a cartoon character in Petit Vampire designed by his friend and cartoonist Joann Sfar.
Moving into actual filmmaking, he directed his first film entitled Les Beaux Gosses
(also known by its English title The French Kissers). It was released on 10 June 2009 with great success in France and 1 million viewers in just 2 months. In it, Sattouf portrays the love life and coming of age through adolescence. The film was nominated to three César Award
s in 2010: Best Debut Film, Best New Male Actor (for Vincent Lacoste in the role of Hervé) and Best Supporting Actress (for her role as Hervé's mother). It won the Gold Prize for Best Film Debut, Best Male Revelation for Vincent Lacoste and Anthony Sonigo, Best French Revelation for Direction and Production for Sattouf himself and the Jacques Prévert Prize for Best Scenario and Best Adaptation with his co-writer Marc Syrigas.
Series
Collaborations with Éric Corbeyran (story writer) / Riad Sattouf (drawing)
Collaborations
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
writer and cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
and film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
of Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n origin (born in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
on 5 May 1978). He is best known for his weekly comics in the French weekly Charlie Hebdo
Charlie Hebdo
Charlie Hebdo is a French satirical weekly newspaper, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics and jokes. It appeared from 1969 to 1981, when it folded, and was resurrected in 1992. The current editor is cartoonist Charb. His predecessors are François Cavanna and Philippe Val...
entitled La vie secrète des jeunes
La vie secrète des jeunes
La Vie secrète des jeunes is a cartoon series by French cartoonist Riad Sattouf that appears weekly in French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. In the series, the artist portrays real life anectodes....
and for his award winning film Les Beaux Gosses
The French Kissers
The French Kissers is a 2009 French teen film. Its original French title is Les beaux gosses, which means "the handsome boys". It was written and directed by Riad Sattouf, marking his film debut...
(The French Kissers).
Career
The French-Syrian Riad Sattouf born in Paris spent his childhood in AlgeriaAlgeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, but returned to France to spend his adolescence in Brittany, where he studied in Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
. An avid reader of cartoon books and periodicals, sent to him by his grandmother, he was fascinated by them. Although he was studying to become a pilot, he applied to study at École Pivaut and then Gobelins L'Ecole de L'Image
Gobelins (school of image)
Gobelins L'Ecole de L'Image or Goblins School of the Image is a Parisian school, located near the Latin Quartier, dedicated to the visual arts. A consular school funded by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris, it provides training in various formats at a variety of different costs...
to study animation. The famous cartoonist Olivier Vatine noticed his talent and introduced him to Guy Delcourt
Guy Delcourt (editor)
Guy Delcourt is a French editor, founder of the Delcourt publishing house in 1986.It has since grown into one of the largest publishers of comics in France....
who was the owner of a cartoon Delcourt Publishing House
Delcourt (publisher)
Delcourt is a French publishing house that specializes in comics and manga.It was founded in 1986 through the fusion of the magazines Charlie Mensuel and Pilote...
specializing in cartoons that published his first book Petit Verglas based on a story line by Éric Corbeyran.
In a unique personal and humorous style, he narrated his own adolescent life observations in Manuel du puceau and Ma Circoncision published by Bréal Jeunesse Publishing House owned by Joann Sfar
Joann Sfar
Joann Sfar is a French comics artist, comic book creator and film director.-Life and career:Sfar was born in Nice. He is considered one of the most important artists of the new wave of Franco-Belgian comics. Many of his comics were published by L'Association which was founded in 1990 by...
. The books were later reprinted by L'Association Publishing House
L'Association
L'Association is a French publishing house which publishes comic books. It was founded in May 1990 by Jean-Christophe Menu, Lewis Trondheim, David B., Mattt Konture, Patrice Killoffer, Stanislas, and Mokeït, who left soon thereafter...
. In Ma circoncision, he denounced circumcision
Circumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
as a cruel and absurd act, superimposed on the context of the socio-political life in his ancestral Syria in the 1980s.
He then published the Jérémie series in the cartoon collection Poisson Pilote published by Dargaud
Dargaud
Les Éditions Dargaud is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1943 by Georges Dargaud.Initially, Dargaud published novels for women...
, resulting in three books of the series. Jérémie was the story of a young sentimental and unstable youth growing to adulthood and was very autobiographical, also appearing in No sex in New York in 2004 upon the initiative of the French left-wing daily Libération
Libération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
.
In 2005 he published Retour au collège which was a big success. Encouraged by this, Riad Sattouf created the very macho et ambivalent character Pascal Brutal.
Since 2004, he has been publishing a weekly feature in the satirical French weekly Charlie Hebdo entitled "La vie secrète des jeunes", recounting real life anectodes. Series were republished in two volumes, one in 2007 and the other in 2010.
Riad Sattouf also experimented with film dubbing
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
by giving his voice to a cartoon character in Petit Vampire designed by his friend and cartoonist Joann Sfar.
Moving into actual filmmaking, he directed his first film entitled Les Beaux Gosses
The French Kissers
The French Kissers is a 2009 French teen film. Its original French title is Les beaux gosses, which means "the handsome boys". It was written and directed by Riad Sattouf, marking his film debut...
(also known by its English title The French Kissers). It was released on 10 June 2009 with great success in France and 1 million viewers in just 2 months. In it, Sattouf portrays the love life and coming of age through adolescence. The film was nominated to three César Award
César Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
s in 2010: Best Debut Film, Best New Male Actor (for Vincent Lacoste in the role of Hervé) and Best Supporting Actress (for her role as Hervé's mother). It won the Gold Prize for Best Film Debut, Best Male Revelation for Vincent Lacoste and Anthony Sonigo, Best French Revelation for Direction and Production for Sattouf himself and the Jacques Prévert Prize for Best Scenario and Best Adaptation with his co-writer Marc Syrigas.
Cartoons
- In 2003: Angoulême International Comics Festival René Goscinny awardAngoulême International Comics Festival René Goscinny awardThe René Goscinny award, named after the writer of Asterix and Lucky Luke, is awarded to comic writers at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. It was first awarded in 1988 and again every year since 1995. The award is given in order to encourage young comic writers, those whose comic...
for Les pauvres aventures de Jérémy, volume 1, Les jolis pieds de Florence. - In 2007, Jacques Lob Prize for Pascal Brutal, volume 2, Le mâle dominant.
- In 2008, Globe de Cristal award for best cartoon for La vie secrète des jeunesLa vie secrète des jeunesLa Vie secrète des jeunes is a cartoon series by French cartoonist Riad Sattouf that appears weekly in French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. In the series, the artist portrays real life anectodes....
. - In 2010, Angoulême International Comics FestivalAngoulême International Comics FestivalThe Angoulême International Comics Festival is the largest comics festival in Europe. It has occurred every year since 1974 in Angoulême, France, in the month of January.The four-day festival is notable for awarding several prestigious prizes in cartooning...
's Prize for Best Album for Pascal Brutal, volume 3, Plus fort que les plus forts (Fluide Glacial).
Films
- 2010: Académie des Césars' (Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma) César Award for Best DebutCésar Award for Best DebutThe César Award for Best Debut was an award given out at the annual César Awards between 1982 and 1999...
for directing Les beaux gosses.
Publications
- 2003: Manuel du puceau (Bréal Jeunesse, Rosny-sous-Bois)
- 2004: Ma Circoncision (Bréal Jeunesse, Rosny-sous-Bois)
- 2004: No Sex in New York (Dargaud collection, Poisson Pilote, Paris)
- 2005: Retour au collège (Hachette Littératures collection, La Fouine Illustrée, Paris)
- 2007: La vie secrète des jeunesLa vie secrète des jeunesLa Vie secrète des jeunes is a cartoon series by French cartoonist Riad Sattouf that appears weekly in French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. In the series, the artist portrays real life anectodes....
, (L'Association collection, Ciboulette, Paris)
Series
- Les Pauvres Aventures de Jérémie (Dargaud, Paris)
- 2003: Les Jolis Pieds de Florence
- 2004: Le pays de la soif
- 2005: Le rêve de Jérémie
- Pipit Farlouse (Milan, Toulouse)
- 2005: La couvée de l'angoisse
- 2006: La route de L'Afrique
- Laura et Patrick (Lito collection Onomatopée, Champigny-sur-Marne)
- 2006: Les jeunes de la jungle Story by Riad Sattouf, drawings by Mathieu Sapin
- Pascal Brutal (Fluide glacial, Paris)
- 2006: La nouvelle virilité
- 2007: Le mâle dominant
- 2009: Plus fort que les plus forts
Collaborations with Éric Corbeyran (story writer) / Riad Sattouf (drawing)
- Petit Verglas Delcourt collection Conquistador, Paris
- 2000: L'Enfance volée
- 2001: La table de pierre
- 2002: Le pacte du naufrageur
Filmography
Own films- 2009: Les Beaux Gosses (The French Kissers) - Director, writer, musician and actor
- 2010: Mes colocs - director and writer of the web series
Collaborations
- 2003: Petit vampire - Scenario and voice-over for TV series of animated cartoons by Joann Sfar.
- 2010: Gainsbourg, vie héroïque directed by Joann Sfar - Role of the gigolo Fréhel.