Coline Serreau

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title: "Coline Serreau" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1947-births", "living-people", "20th-century-french-actresses", "20th-century-french-non-fiction-writers", "20th-century-french-women-writers", "21st-century-french-actresses", "21st-century-french-non-fiction-writers", "21st-century-french-women-writers", "actresses-from-paris", "french-documentary-filmmakers", "french-film-actresses", "french-stage-actresses", "french-women-dramatists-and-playwrights", "french-women-screenwriters", "french-screenwriters", "writers-from-paris", "recipients-of-the-legion-of-honour", "french-women-film-directors", "french-women-documentary-filmmakers", "best-original-screenplay-or-adaptation-césar-award-winners", "directors-of-best-film-césar-award-winners"] description: "French actress, film director and writer (born 1947)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coline_Serreau" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary French actress, film director and writer (born 1947) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Coline Serreau
image	Coline Serreau on Mouvement Colibris.jpg
caption	Coline Serreau speaks with Mouvement Colibris in 2012
birth_date
birth_place	Paris, France
occupation	Actress, film director and writer
::

| name = Coline Serreau | image = Coline Serreau on Mouvement Colibris.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Coline Serreau speaks with Mouvement Colibris in 2012 | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Paris, France | citizenship = | alma_mater = | occupation = Actress, film director and writer | years_active = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | website =

Coline Serreau (born 29 October 1947) is a French actress, film director and writer.

Early life and education

She was born in Paris, the daughter of theatre director Jean-Marie Serreau and actress Geneviève Serreau. In Paris, Serreau studied literature, music and theatre and is a trained organist and trapeze artist.

Her stage work began at the Comédie Française and she has written many plays. Her film debut in 1977 was Pourquoi pas!, a love triangle story which was a success around Europe.

Her 1985 comedy Trois hommes et un couffin (remade in the US as Three Men and a Baby was the most commercially successful film of the 1980s in French.

Career

In 1970, she made her debut as an actress at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier.

Serreau wrote her first screenplay in 1973.

Her first film, the documentary film Mais qu'est-ce qu'elles veulent? (1978), literally: But What Is It That They Want?, was a compilation of interviews with women from various backgrounds. The frankness of the statements shocked parts of the public.

Her biggest commercial success was the comedy film Three Men and a Cradle (Trois hommes et un couffin; 1985), for which she received three César Awards in 1986. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In 1986, her first drama for the stage Lapin Lapin (Rabbit Rabbit), directed by Benno Besson, had its world premiere. She collaborated with Besson for several years and he also staged Le théâtre de verdure (1987) and Quisaitout et Grobêta (1993).

Filmography

::data[format=table title=""]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014	Couleur locale	Co-writer and co-director with Samuel Tasinaje
2014	Tout est permis	Writer, Director
2010	Solutions locales pour un désordre global	Writer, Director
2005	Saint-Jacques… La Mecque	Writer, Director
2003	18 ans après	Writer, Director
2001	Chaos	Writer, Director
1996	La Belle Verte	Writer, Director
1992	La Crise	Writer, Director
1989	Mama, There's a Man in Your Bed	Writer, Director	last=Farber
1985	Three Men and a Cradle	Writer, Director	last=Darnton
1982	Qu'est-ce qu'on attend pour être heureux	Writer, Director
1979	Grand-mère de l'Islam
1978	Mais qu'est ce qu'elles veulent?	Writer, Director
1977	Why Not!	Writer, Director
1974	On s'est trompé d'histoire d'amour	Screenplay and role of Anne
::

Awards and nominations

::data[format=table title=""]

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Notes
2002	Norwegian International	Audience Award	Chaos
Norwegian Film Critics Award
2002	César Awards, France	Best Film (Meilleur film)	Chaos		title=Coline Serreau
Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation (Meilleur scénario original ou adaptation)
2010	São Paulo International	Audience Award	Solutions locales pour un désordre global
1993	César Awards, France	Best Film (Meilleur film)	La crise
Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation (Meilleur scénario original ou adaptation)
1991	BAFTA Awards	Best Film Not in the English Language	Romuald et Juliette
1986	César Awards, France	Best Film (Meilleur film)	3 hommes et un couffin
Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation (Meilleur scénario original ou adaptation)
Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur)
1986	Academy Awards (Oscar)	Academy Award for Best International Feature Film	3 hommes et un couffin
1985	National Academy	Academy Award	3 hommes et un couffin
1982	Venice Film Festival	Golden Lion	Qu'est-ce qu'on attend pour être heureux!
1978	Chicago International	Gold Hugo (Best Feature)	Pourquoi pas!
::

References

References

1. [https://www.berlinale.de/external/programme/archive/pdf/20022791.pdf Additional information about Chaos, Berlinale 2002 archive] accessed 1 April 2024.
2. Thomas, Kevin. (1990-03-02). "The Frenchwoman Who Delivered a Big 'Baby' to Hollywood : Movies: Her 'Three Men and a Cradle' was turned into you know what. Now she hopes lightning will strike twice with 'Mama, There's a Man in Your Bed.'".
3. "The 58th Academy Awards (1986) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org.
4. Scheib, Ronnie. (2011-03-15). "Think Global, Act Rural".
5. Nesselson, Lisa. (2003-02-18). "18 Years Later".
6. James, Alison. (2003-01-20). "Gallic Rendez-Vous woos distribs".
7. Hohenadel, Kristin. (Jan 26, 2002). "FILM; A Feminist Willing To Be, Well, Incorrect".
8. Thomas, Kevin. (2003-02-21). "It's a cruel world in 'Chaos'".
9. Holden, Stephen. (2003-01-29). "FILM REVIEW; Sexist Pigs Skewered Over a Flamethrower". The New York Times.
10. Nesselson, Lisa. (1996-09-23). "Visit to a Green Planet".
11. Vourlias, Christopher. (2022-06-20). "Greece's Evia Film Project Brings Environmentally Focused Filmmaking to the Fore".
12. (1992-12-04). "THE MOVIE GUIDE". The New York Times.
13. Rooney, David. (1998-06-08). "Paparazzi".
14. Farber, Stephen. (1990-04-08). "FILM; She's Filming Her Movie, Twice". The New York Times.
15. Benson, Sheila. (1990-04-13). "MOVIE REVIEWS : From France, Laughter and Romance : Fairy tale: In Coline Serreau's charming 'Mama, There's a Man in Your Bed,' a cleaning woman becomes a goddess.".
16. Maslin, Janet. (1990-04-13). "Review/Film; Romance Blooms in a Yogurt War". The New York Times.
17. Darnton, Nina. (1986-04-20). "OUI, MONSIEUR, IT'S THEIR BABY, BUT NOT FOR LONG". The New York Times.
18. Canby, Vincent. (1986-04-25). "FILM: '3 MEN AND CRADLE'". The New York Times.
19. (4 October 2014). "1986 {{!}} Oscars.org {{!}} Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences".
20. Variety Staff. (1985-01-01). "3 Hommes et un Couffin".
21. Maslin, Janet. (1979-07-23). "Film: Trio Cavort in 'Pourquoi Pas!':Bohemia's Last Gasp". The New York Times.
22. (1978-02-21). "4th French Film Festival Starts at Modern March 2". The New York Times.
23. "Coline Serreau".
24. "1991 Film Film not in the English Language {{!}} BAFTA Awards".
25. Meisler, Stanley. (1986-02-25). "FRENCH HAIL BEST OF FILM WITH CESAR".
26. (4 October 2014). "1986 {{!}} Oscars.org {{!}} Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences".

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