Jean-Jacques Annaud

Born: 1st October 1943
Where: Ile-de-France, France

The director's concern for culture clashes has manifested itself in movies ranging from Seven Years in Tibet to Quest for Fire.

He began collecting cameras and projectors at an early age and studied at the Vaugirard film technical school in Paris.

Annaud first made educational films for the French Army while fulfilling his mandatory military requirement when stationed in Africa.

He subsequently became an acclaimed and extremely prolific director of TV ads, making over 500 during the late 1960s and early 70s.

He then ventured into features in 1976, writing and directing his first film, Black and White in Color, influenced by his experiences in Africa.

Although it made little money in his native country, it went on to win an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

Annaud's follow-up came three years later with Hot Head, after which he directed Quest for Fire, which won French Cesar Awards for Best Picture and Best Director.

In 1986, Annaud made his first English-language movie, directing Sean Connery in the atmospheric ecclesiastical thriller The Name of the Rose.

He spent nearly six years finding the right animals and training them for their 'roles' in his next film, The Bear.

With Wings of Courage, Annaud became the first director to shoot a feature in the 3D IMAX format, telling in spectacular fashion the true story of a downed aviator who trekked back to civilization across six Andes mountain peaks in 1930.

Two years later he directed Brad Pitt in Seven Years in Tibet, a film which resulted in him being banned from entering China.

In 2001, he directed the disappointing Enemy at the Gates, a love story set against the backdrop of the siege of Stalingrad by German troops.

Recent work includes the children's fable Two Brothers, starring two tigers and Guy Pearce.