Bertrand Tavernier

Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, several years president of the French PEN club. He said his father's publishing of a wartime resistance journal and aid to anti-Nazi intellectuals shaped his moral outlook as an artist. According to Tavernier, his father believed that words were "as important and as lethal as bullets".

Tavernier's politics were influenced by the 1968 general strike in France. He was particularly struck by the writing of Leon Trotsky and associated with the OCI between 1973 and 1975.

Tavernier aspired to become a filmmaker from the time he was 13 or 14 years old. He cited John Ford, William Wellman, Jean Renoir, Jean Vigo and Jacques Becker as among his cinematic influences. He entered the film industry as a publicist, where he worked for Jean-Pierre Melville and Jean-Luc Godard. Later, his first film (The Clockmaker, 1974) won the Prix Louis Delluc and the Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize award at the 24th Berlin International Film Festival.

Tavernier's early films were often mysteries and thrillers that carried a social critique, such as The Judge and the Assassin (1976) and Coup de Torchon (1981), while his later work is characterized by a more overt social commentary, highlighting his left-wing views (Life and Nothing But (1989), Captain Conan (1996)) and presenting a critical picture of contemporary French society (It All Starts Today (1999), Histoires de vies brisées: les double-peine de Lyon (2001)).

Tavernier was married to screenwriter Colo Tavernier O'Hagan from 1965 to 1981. They had two children. Their son, Nils Tavernier (born 1 September 1965), works as both a director and actor. Their daughter, Tiffany Tavernier (born in 1967), is a novelist, screenwriter and assistant director.