Agnès Jaoui

Jaoui was born in Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, and is of Tunisian Jewish descent.{{cite journal|last=Klifa|first=Thierry|title=Agnès Jaoui: L'art de vivre|journal=Studio magazine|date=February 2000|issue=153|pages=124–129|issn=0982-8354}} She is the daughter of Hubert Jaoui and Gyza Jaoui, who are both writers. They moved to Paris when she was 8 years old. She started theatre when she was in high school at the Lycée Henri-IV in Paris. She entered the Cours Florent when she was 15. Patrice Chéreau, director of the Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre where she began attending drama classes in 1984, gave her a role in the film Hôtel de France in 1987. That same year, she appeared in Harold Pinter's L'anniversaire with Jean-Pierre Bacri, who later became a faithful colleague and companion.{{cite news|last=Lorrain|first=François-Guillaume|title=Jaoui ne se laisse pas faire|url=http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-cinema/2008-09-11/jaoui-ne-se-laisse-pas-faire/903/0/273209|access-date=31 March 2014|newspaper=Le Point|date=11 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317182201/http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-cinema/2008-09-11/jaoui-ne-se-laisse-pas-faire/903/0/273209|archive-date=17 March 2014|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

Jaoui and Bacri wrote the play Cuisine et dépendances, which Philippe Muyl adapted for the screen in 1992. In 1993, director Alain Resnais asked them to make an adaptation of Alan Ayckbourn's eight-part play Intimate Exchanges, which became the two-part film Smoking/No Smoking. This ironic diptych about free will and destiny won the César Award for Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation in 1994. In 1996, they gained greater success with Cédric Klapisch's adaptation of their play Family Resemblances (Un air de famille), which showed their ability to observe and depict everyday life, and to criticize the social norms through bitter and corrosive humor. Once again, they won the César Award for Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation in 1997, and the same year, they collaborated with Resnais again on Same Old Song (On connaît la chanson), which they wrote and performed. They won their third César Award for Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation, and Jaoui won her first César Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Jaoui directed her first feature film, The Taste of Others (Le Goût des autres, 2000, written with Bacri), which questions social-cultural identities. The film was a huge success in France and attracted 4 million spectators. It also won 4 César Awards in 2001 including Best Film and César Award for Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2004, Jaoui's second film as a director, Look at Me (Comme une image), co-written with Bacri, was selected for the Cannes Festival and won the prize for Best Screenplay. She starred in the last Richard Dembo's film, La maison de Nina (2005) and then focused on music and released her album of Latin songs, Canta (2006). She returned to cinema in 2008 with Let's Talk About the Rain (Parlez-moi de la pluie), with French humorist Jamel Debbouze in a different role from what he was used to.

In 2012, Jaoui directed Under the Rainbow (Au bout du conte), also co-written with Bacri. It revisits several fairy tales, such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood. It received acclaim from critics and audiences for originality and humor in the writing and dialogue.{{cite news|title="Au bout du conte", d'Agnès Jaoui, une comédie piquante très Jaoui-Bacri|url=http://www.telerama.fr/cinema/au-bout-du-conte-d-agnes-jaoui-et-les-autres-films-de-la-semaine,94444.php|access-date=31 March 2014|newspaper=Télérama.fr|date=3 June 2013}}

Jaoui studied music in the conservatoire when she was 17, but did not start her career as a singer until 2006 when her first album Canta was released. It mixed several Latin music genres (such as flamenco, bolero, and bossa) and she sang exclusively in Spanish and Portuguese.{{cite news|title="Canta" ou la délicatesse d'Agnès Jaoui|url=http://www.linternaute.com/musique/disques/06/agnes-jaoui/canta.shtml|access-date=31 March 2014|newspaper=Linternaute.com|date=February 2006}} In 2007, it won the Victoire de la Musique award for "best traditional music album".

Jaoui's second album, Dans Mon Pays, was released in 2009. It also featured Latin sonorities and songs sang in Spanish and Portuguese, except for two songs in French.{{cite news|title="Dans mon pays", Agnès Jaoui y El Quintet Oficial|url=http://www.cosmopolitan.fr/,el-quintet-oficial-album-de-agnes-jaoui,2151,1067054.asp|access-date=31 March 2014|newspaper=Cosmopolitan}}

In November 2024, Jaoui directed a rare revival of Baldassare Galuppi's 1762 opera L'uomo femina at the Opéra de Dijon, which later transferred to the Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles.Blanmont, Nicolas. Report from Dijon. Opera, March 2025, Vol.76 No.3 p.370-371.

File:Bacri Jaoui avp 2013.jpg in 2013 at the première of Au bout du conte.]]

Jaoui is the daughter of Gyza Jaoui; a pioneering figure of transactional analysis, a form of psychotherapy initiated by Eric Berne. Jaoui has a brother, {{Interlanguage link|Laurent Jaoui|fr}}, who is also a screenwriter and a director.

Jaoui was in a relationship with Jean-Pierre Bacri from 1987 to 2012. After their breakup, the two stayed on good terms and continued to work together.{{cite news|last=Amalric|first=Laurent|title=Le conte est bon à Six-Fours pour le duo Bacri-Jaoui|url=http://www.nicematin.com/people/le-conte-est-bon-a-six-fours-pour-le-duo-bacri-jaoui.1129783.html|access-date=31 March 2014|newspaper=Nice-Matin|date=31 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326220502/http://www.nicematin.com/people/le-conte-est-bon-a-six-fours-pour-le-duo-bacri-jaoui.1129783.html|archive-date=2014-03-26|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Michael |date=1998-08-31 |title=Agnes Jaoui & Jean-Pierre Bacri |url=https://variety.com/1998/film/news/agnes-jaoui-jean-pierre-bacri-1117792817/ |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}

Jaoui adopted two children from Brazil in 2012.{{cite news|last=Karelle|first=Fitoussi|title=Agnès Jaoui, la douceur de vivre|url=http://www.parismatch.com/People/Cinema/Agnes-Jaoui-la-douceur-de-vivre-158807|access-date=31 March 2014|newspaper=Paris Match|date=26 August 2012}}

Jaoui is a member of the 50/50 collective, which aims to promote gender equality and diversity in cinema.{{Cite web |title="Mains baladeuses", sexisme et âgisme : Agnès Jaoui tacle le monde du cinéma |url=https://www.terrafemina.com/article/sexisme-au-cinema-agnes-jaoui-tacle-les-discriminations_a352840/1 |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=www.terrafemina.com |language=fr}}

{{Reflist|2}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{IMDb name|id=0418450|name=Agnès Jaoui}}
• {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20061028055557/http://www.oositoo.com/blog/index.php/2006/03/10/229-agnes-jaoui-sa-biographie-ses-films Agnès Jaoui Biography]
• [http://filmlinc.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/film-comment-presents-a-podcast-interview-with-agnes-jaoui.html Film Comment interviews Agnes Jaoui] (Podcast)

{{Agnès Jaoui}}

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Category:1964 births

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