Vincent Dieutre, the French film director and screenwriter known for intimate films that blended documentary and fiction, died in Paris on Aug. 10, 2026. He was 65. Le Monde reported cardiac arrest as the cause.
Born Nov. 25, 1960, Dieutre studied art history before attending the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques, the film school that preceded La Fémis. A Villa Médicis fellowship took him to Rome in 1989. His first feature, Rome désolée (1996), combined images of the city’s margins, news footage and a personal diary, establishing the personal approach that defined his work.
Leçons de ténèbres (2000) followed an emotional journey across Europe. In Jaurès (2013), a relationship unfolded alongside the lives of Afghan refugees in Paris. His 2025 film, Chantal A., Bruxelles, paid homage to director Chantal Akerman. At the time of his death, Dieutre was developing projects about Saint-Just and his own recovery from addiction.
