Alain Cavalier (also known as Alain Fraisse) was born 1931 in Vendome, France. He studied film at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC) in Paris and then started out assisting directors Edouard Molinaro and Louis Malle. In 1958 he directed his first solo film Un American, a featurette. The critical and commercial reception to the film was lukewarm. He directed the famous movie - Catherine Deneuve vehicle - La Chamade in 1968. He won eleven Awards in his career icluding the César Award for Best Film and César Award for Best Director for his film Thérèse in 1987.

Filmography:

Un Américain/ The American (France, 1958)
Le combat dans l'île/ Fire and Ice (104´, France, 1962)
L'insoumis/ The Unvanquished (115´, France/Italy, 1964)
Mise à sac/ Pillaged (98´, Italy/France, 1967)
La Chamade/ Heartbeat (103´, Italy/France, 1968)
Le plein de super/ Fill 'er Up with Super (97´, France, 1976)
Martin et Léa/ Martin and Léa (90´, France, 1979)
Ce répondeur ne prend pas de messages/ This Answering Service Takes No Messages (77´, France, 1979)
Un étrange voyage (100´, France, 1981)
Thérèse (94´, France, 1987)
La dame des lavabos (13´, France, 1988)
Libera me (75´, France, 1993)
La rencontre (75´, France, 1996)
Vies/ Lives (87´, France, 2000)
René (85´, France, 2002)
Le filmeur (97´, France, 2005)
Lieux saints (32´, France, 2007)
Irène (83´, France, 2009)