Albert Lamorisse

Paris, France

Albert Lamorisse (13 January 1922 – 2 June 1970) was a French filmmaker, film producer, and writer, who is best known for his award winning short films which he began making in the late 1940s, and also for inventing the famous strategic board game Risk in 1957. He was born in Paris, France.

He first came into prominence - just after Bim - for directing and producing White Mane (1953), an award winning short film that tells a fable of how a young boy befriends an untamable wild white stallion in the marshes of Camargue (the Petite Camargue).

His best known work is the short film The Red Balloon (1956), which earned him the Palme d'Or Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and an Oscar for writing the best original screenplay in 1956.

Lamorisse also wrote, directed and produced the well-regarded films Stowaway in the Sky (1960) and Circus Angel, as well as the documentaries Versailles and Paris Jamais Vu. In addition to films, he created the popular strategy board game Risk in 1957.

Lamorisse and his wife had three children: Pascal, a son, and two daughters named Sabine and Fanny. Pascal and Sabine were featured in The Red Balloon. Albert Lamorisse died in a helicopter crash while filming the documentary Le Vent des amoureux (The Lovers' Wind), during a helicopter-tour of Iran in 1970. His son and his widow completed the film, based on his production notes, and released the film eight years later, in 1978. It was nominated for a posthumous Oscar for best documentary.

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