Georges Franju

Former set designer who in 1937 co-founded the renowned Cinematheque Francaise film archive with Henri Langlois. Franju made several gripping documentaries including "Le Sang des betes" (1949) and "Hotel des Invalides" (1951), noted for their distinctive blending of the lyrical with the horrific; he later carried the style over into feature films such as "La Tete contre les murs" (1958) and "Eyes Without a Face" (1959). Although some critics placed Franju on the fringes of the French New Wave largely because several of his most prominent films came out in the late 1950s and early 60s, his work has steadfastly remained difficult to categorize. Major influences on Franju include Louis Feuillade, whose "Judex" serial he enjoyably and respectfully remade in 1963, and Jean Cocteau, whose novel "Thomas the Imposter" Franju filmed in 1965.