FEEL IT.STREAM
Jean-Christophe Averty

Jean-Christophe Averty

Directing

Biography

Jean-Christophe Averty (6 August 1928 – 4 March 2017[1]) was a French television and radio director, and Satrap of the College of 'Pataphysique. Many of his television productions from the 1960s were early examples of French video art. His studies were used in the following decades by the research groups of the French National Audiovisual Institute (INA). Averty was born in Paris. A graduate of the IDHEC film school, he started in television in 1952 at the then French Television Office. He directed over five hundred programs for television and radio, across all disciplines: fiction, documentary, drama, variety, and jazz. His many awards include an Emmy award in the United States. Averty was appointed Satrap of the College of 'Pataphysique in 1990, due to his fascination for Alfred Jarry and Pataphysique. Averty made his reputation on his strong character, his taste for provocation and his sense for innovative television. His 1963 series The Green Grapes was infamous for a recurring sequence of a baby being put through a grater. A keen connoisseur of jazz, Averty filmed the Jazz à Juan festival for many years. The pianist Martial Solal paid him a tribute in one of his compositions: Averty, c'est moi (Averty that's me). Over 28 years, he hosted 1,805 episodes of his radio show Les Cinglés du music-hall, based on his own collection of jazz and variety 78s that he had bought in flea markets around the world. The show was cancelled in 2006 under Jean-Paul Cluzel's chairmanship of Radio France. The French section of the shows was based on notebooks entrusted to him by André Cauzard, filled with daily details of pre-war jazz music events. Averty directed television shows where he applied his singular style to showcase the greatest francophone singers such as Françoise Hardy, Yves Montand, Johnny Hallyday, Sylvie Vartan, Juliette Greco, Georges Brassens, Dalida, France Gall, Serge Gainsbourg, Gilbert Bécaud, Guy Marchand, Léo Ferré, Tino Rossi, and Jean Sablon, and as well as foreign musicians such as Patty Pravo. In 1969 Averty directed the TV movie Le Songe d'une nuit d'été, starring Claude Jade, Christine Delaroche and Jean-Claude Drouot, and filmed entirely in bluescreen. His television creations are landmarks in their use of video as a mode of artistic expression. Averty made great use of characters filmed against a blue screen, overlaid on a drawn background. Examples are Sapeur Camembert, based on the eponymous work of Georges Colomb, and a production of Edmond Rostand's classic play Chantecler. Averty was one of the last salaried directors of the French Production Company. In 2012, he entrusted the management, conservation and safeguarding of the rights of all of his television and radio works to the French National Audiovisual Institute (INA); nearly a thousand television programs on jazz, sports, fashion, variety and the theater. Source: Article "Jean-Christophe Averty" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Known For

Apostrophes
8.5

Apostrophes was a live, weekly, literary, prime-time, talk show on French television created and hosted by Bernard Pivot. It ran for fifteen years (724 episodes) from January 10, 1975, to June 22, 1990, and was one of the most watched shows on French television (around 6 million regular viewers). It was broadcast on Friday nights on the channel France 2 (which was called "Antenne 2" from 1975 to 1992). The hourlong show was devoted to books, authors and literature. The format varied between one-on-one interviews with a single author and open discussions between four or five authors.

Apostrophes

1975
Bambi
9.0

The Bambi, often called the Bambi Award and stylised as BAMBI, is a German award presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television to personalities in the media, arts, culture, sports, and other fields "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year", both domestic and foreign. First held in 1948, it is the oldest media award in Germany. The trophy is named after Felix Salten's book Bambi, A Life in the Woods and its statuettes are in the shape of the novel's titular fawn character. They were originally made of porcelain until 1958, when the organizers switched to using gold, with the casting done by the art casting workshop of Ernst Strassacker in Süßen.

Bambi

1948
Sacrée soirée
5.7

No description available.

Sacrée soirée

1987
Le Grand Échiquier
8.0

Le Grand Échiquier is a French variety television program created and presented by Jacques Chancel. It aired at 8:30 pm on the first channel of the ORTF from January 12, 1972 to July 12, 1972, then on the second color channel of the ORTF from September 1972 to December 1974, and finally on Antenne 2 from January 1975 to December 21, 1989. The program returned to France 2 on December 20, 2018 and is hosted by Anne-Sophie Lapix.

Le Grand Échiquier

1972
Discorama
8.0

No description available.

Discorama

1959
No image
N/A

Annual awarding of the Grimme Awards.

Grimme Award

1964
No image
6.0

No description available.

Samedi soir

1971
La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
7.2

In May 1974, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing became President of the Republic and wanted to bring about a new era of modernity. One of his first decisions was to break up the ORTF with the creation of three new television channels: TF1, Antenne 2 and FR3. Three new public channels but autonomous and competing. It is a race for the audience which is engaged then, and from now on the channels will make the war! This competition will give birth to a real golden age for television programs, with variety shows in the forefront. The stars of the song are going to invade the living rooms of the French for their biggest pleasure. This unedited documentary tells the story of the metamorphosis of this television of the early 1970s, between freedom of tone, scandals, political intrigues and programs that have become mythical.

La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président

2022
Adieu Philippine
6.9

Michel is a young technician in the fledgling TV industry and is due for military service in two months at the time of the Algerian War. Juliette and Liliane are inseparable best friends, and aspiring actresses, who hang around outside the TV studio. Michel invites them in to watch, flirts with them both, and dates them separately and together. When Michel goes on a holiday to Corsica, just before he is drafted, the girls follow.

Adieu Philippine

1962
Ray Charles - Live in France 1961
7.2

Lost for 50 years, these newly discovered concerts were filmed at the 1961 Antibes Jazz Festival in France and show Ray Charles in his prime period with the original Raeletts and his most legendary band (including David "Fathead" Newman and Hank Crawford). These first concerts he ever gave in Europe opened the door for Ray Charles to become one of the most revered international stars America has ever produced.

Ray Charles - Live in France 1961

2011
Melody
7.0

Although Gainsbourg and Birkin had appeared in a string of films since their magnetic collision in Pierre Grimblat’s Slogan, Melody was a bit of diversion from their collaborations since it’s a series of interwoven videos inspired by the Gainsbourgalbum. For '71 it’s a novel concept to bring visual life to an LP, but even more surprising are the short film’s amazing visuals that director Averty crafted using a wealth of video filters, overlays, camera movements and chroma key effects. Averty applies these in tandem with the increasing tone of Gainsbourg’s songs, which more or less chronicle an older man's affair with a young girl. Each song is comprised of steady, sometimes brooding poetic delivery, with refrains timed to the phrase repeats of each song, while Alan Parker’s buzzing guitar accompanies and wiggles around Gainsbourg’s resonant voice. The bass is fat and groovy, the drums easy but steady, and the periodic use of strings or rich vibrato makes this short a sultry little gem.

Melody

1971
No image
N/A

This variety show, with its new concept, is presented as a musical comedy. Having formed an orchestra, a group of young people perform in the courtyards of an old Parisian neighborhood, hoping to earn some money. But no one listens to them. All the tenants of the building are glued to their television sets. Only one mysterious man takes an interest in the group and offers them a box of magic matches.

La Lucarne magique

1971
A Midsummer Night's Dream
10.0

Shakespeare wrote this fantastic comedy in 1594. It features Lysander and Hermia, whose love is thwarted by Hermia's father, who wishes to marry her off to Demetrius, himself loved by Helena. In a magical forest, the couple cross paths with Obéron, king of the elves, who is quarreling with his wife and in possession of love potions.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

1969
Raymond Roussel: The Day of Glory
6.0

A tortuous journey, in the company of the Spanish painter Salvador Dalí, around the figure of the enigmatic and visionary French poet Raymond Roussel (1877-1933).

Raymond Roussel: The Day of Glory

2017
Ça c'est Claude François
N/A

Claude François, his claudettes, Maurice Ribaud, France Gall... Such is the five-star cast of this original show directed by Jean Christophe Averty. A sort of musical self-portrait, the program looks back on the singer's career. A true showman, he gives a spectacular demonstration of the dances in vogue: twist, madison, hoolie goolie...

Ça c'est Claude François

1967
It Happened on the 36 Candles
5.5

Rejecting the union of her daughter Brigitte with a modest worker, Madame Magnin invents an adultery for the lover, then introduces Brigitte to a good-looking man working on the famous RTF entertainment show 36 Chandelles. The show ultimately seals the reunion of the two estranged young lovers. The story features a parade of music-hall stars from the era: Charles Trenet, Charles Aznavour, Georges Guétary, Juliette Gréco, Roger Pierre and Jean-Marc Thibault, Fernand Raynaud, Georges Ulmer and many more.

It Happened on the 36 Candles

1957
Ubu enchaîné
N/A

Father Ubu, grotesque king and symbol of the tyranny of power in Ubu king, decides to become a slave to acquire real power. This is the first sequel to "Ubu roi" (1965) directed by Averty.

Ubu enchaîné

1971
Idea
9.0

The Bee Gees preform in this special created for German TV. Also featured are Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger, and the Trinity, and Lil Lindfors.

Idea

1968
The Beatles: Live in Paris
N/A

The Beatles live at the Palais des Sports, Paris, June 20th 1965.

The Beatles: Live in Paris

1965
Comment devenir cinéaste sans se prendre la tête
8.0

No description available.

Comment devenir cinéaste sans se prendre la tête

1995