For more than 70 years, every song by crooner Charles Aznavour invited his legions of adoring fans into a magical dream of music and romance. Aside from the thousands of songs that made this French-Armenian polymath a star, Aznavour’s life beyond music was even more extraordinary. An actor, political activist, diplomat and filmmaker, Aznavour by Charles enthrallingly reveals a complicated, multi-talented man who entertained for the greater part of a century.
In 1948, fellow French music idol Édith Piaf gave Aznavour a Paillard-Bolex film camera that he used religiously to document his life until 1982. Before passing away in October 2018 at the age of 94, Aznavour and his collaborator Marc di Domenico worked through an enormous film archive, the result of which forms the basis of Aznavour by Charles.
Narrated by award-winning French actor Romain Duris (AF FFF18, Mrs. Hyde; AF FFF15, The New Girlfriend), this documentary knits together footage from Aznavour’s vast personal experiences to present not just unparalleled insight into the man himself but also his relationships with friends, including Frank Sinatra, Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet and Brigitte Bardot.
Moving through multiple love affairs and a complex relationship with his Armenian heritage, Aznavour by Charles offers an intimate insight into the life of one of France’s greatest artists.
Tuesday 14th July
75 min
PG
Film Festival
