Jacques Krier (February 6, 1926 - August 24, 2008) was a French television film producer and director. A communist, he directed many mini-series of television documentaries about the living conditions of French workers, including janitors, as well as Arabs in French Algeria and immigrants from Mali. He also directed films for television and documentaries for the General Confederation of Labour, a labor union. He was the author of several novels and the winner of the 2000 Prix Roger Vailland.
Early life
Jacques Krier was born on February 6, 1926, in Nancy, France.[1][2][3] His parents were storekeepers.[4]
Krier began directing documentaries in 1957 alongside Jean-Claude Bergeret with A la découverte des Français, a television series of 14 mini-documentaries about the everyday lives of French miners, fishermen, teachers, etc.[2][3] He directed Cinq colonnes à la une, another television series, from 1959 to 1968.[2][3] Some of it showed scenes of Arab villages in French Algeria.[5] With Pierre Tchernia, he directed 40 000 voisins, a 1960 documentary about the new HLMs built in Sarcelles.[5] In 1964, he directed Ouvriers noirs de Paris, a documentary about Malian immigrants in Paris, with scenes shot in their home country.[5] He also directed Mémoires d’un vieux quartier, a 1965 documentary about Ménilmontant with Gérard Chouchan.[5] After a two-year hiatus, he directed Les femmes aussi for television in 1970.[2][3][5] He subsequently directed Les Matinales – Paris de 5 à 7, a television series of mini-documentaries about the living conditions of janitors.[3]
Krier directed television films.[2][3] For example, he directed Un matin à Glisolles in 1962; it was about a young couple who run away without their parents's consent to be together.[5] Meanwhile, he directed documentaries for the CGT.[5]
Krier was the author of several novels and plays.[1] His 2000 novel, L’Idéale, won the Prix Roger Vailland.[6]
Death
Krier died on August 24, 2008, in Digne-les-Bains.[1] On his death, journalist Marcel Trillat said he was "a pioneer of what we came to know as the social-poetical documentary".[2] His papers and films are held at the Institut national de l'audiovisuel.[5]
Works
Krier, Jacques (1979). La Jeanne d'Arc est rouillée : les enfants de Lorraine ... et les choses de la vie : document. Paris: Ramsay. ISBN9782859561277. OCLC6666921.
Krier, Jacques (1998). Monsieur, ça vous embête de nous parler de votre travail? : Carvin à livres ouverts. Pantin: Le Temps des cerises. ISBN9782841090884. OCLC467962695.
Krier, Jacques (2000). L'idéale. Pantin: Le Temps Des Cerises. ISBN2841092364.
Krier, Jacques (2005). Les drôles de voyages d'un camarade errant. Pantin: Le Temps des Cerises. ISBN9782841095414. OCLC470211541.