Frédéric Rossif was a French film and television director who specialized in documentaries, frequently utilizing archive footage. His themes often revolved around wildlife, 20th-century history, and contemporary artists. He frequently collaborated with notable composers Maurice Jarre and Vangelis.
Born in Cetinje, Montenegro, Yugoslavia, Rossif's family was tragically killed during World War II. He then studied in Rome during the late 1930s and early 1940s before joining the French Foreign Legion's 13th Demi-Brigade in 1944. After the war, in 1945 Rossif established himself in Paris and worked at Club Saint-Germain, where he befriended notable figures such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Boris Vian, Albert Camus, Ernest Hemingway, and Malcolm Lowry.
Since 1948 Rossif actively collaborated with the Cinémathèque Française, organizing an avant-garde festival at Antibes in 1949-50. In 1952 he joined the ORTF, participating in projects like Cinq colonnes à la une, Éditions spéciales, La Vie des animaux, and François Chalais' Cinépanorama.
In the late 1950s, Rossif began writing and directing his own films, achieving considerable success. His 1963 film Mourir à Madrid about the Spanish Civil War received the Prix Jean Vigo and was nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature. Several of his 1960s films were scored by Maurice Jarre. In 1970, he completed his only non-documentary film, Aussi loin que l'amour, featuring Salvador Dalí as an actor.
In the early 1970s, Rossif met Vangelis, and the two collaborated on numerous films, including the wildlife documentaries L'Apocalypse des animaux, L'Opéra sauvage, and La Fête sauvage. Some of the music from these films was released on CD. Vangelis' music for an ocean scene from the 6th episode of L'Apocalypse, called "La Petite Fille de la Mer", has since become a modern classic.
Rossif directed a documentary dedicated to Vangelis, L'Arbre de vie, in 1980. He died in 1990 and was buried in the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris. His final projects included the monumental World War II documentary De Nuremberg à Nuremberg (1989) and Pasteur le Siècle, a documentary commemorating the 100th anniversary of L'Institut Pasteur (1987),a departure from his usual themes.
