Erick Zonca

Born into an affluent Orleans family of Italian descent, French filmmaker Erick Zonca belatedly discovered European movies in, of all places, New York City, where he had settled at the age of 20 with the naive notion of ridding himself of his accent and becoming an American actor. Deciding he could only make movies in France, he returned to his native land and later found work in TV, first as an unpaid intern, then as an assistant director helping to make sitcoms and documentaries for an independent production company. Zonca's first short, "Rives" (1992), did well on the festival circuit, as did "Eternelles" (1994), his second, and the prize money for the two helped finance a third, "Seule" (1996). He made an acclaimed feature debut with "The Dreamlife of Angels" (1998), a resounding success at Cannes, where his two lead actresses Elodie Bouchez and Natacha Regnier shared the festival's best actress award. The first draft for the picture suggested a four-hour movie, but the director cut it in half, the unfilmed portion becoming the basis for his next film, "Les Petits voleurs," commissioned by the French-German cultural television station, Arte.