Francis Cognany

Movies

Le Petit Soldat
Assistant Director
During the Algerian war for independence from France, a young Frenchman living in Geneva who belongs to a right-wing terrorist group and a young woman who belongs to a left-wing terrorist group meet and fall in love. Complications ensue when the man is suspected by the members of his terrorist group of being a double agent.
A Woman Is a Woman
Assistant Director
Longing for a baby, a stripper pursues another man in order to make her boyfriend jealous.
Shoot the Piano Player
Assistant Director
Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy Paris bar. When Charlie's brothers, Richard and Chico, surface and ask for Charlie's help while on the run from gangsters they have scammed, he aids their escape. Soon Charlie and Lena, a waitress at the same bar, face trouble when the gangsters arrive, looking for his brothers.
The 400 Blows
Second Assistant Director
For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.
A Visit
A timid and clumsy young man is looking for a room through newspaper ads. A young lady answers his phone call. When he arrives to the apartment with his suitcase, he finds the young lady in the company of a baby girl entrusted to her by her brother. Soon, another young man arrives wearing trendy sunglasses and with a bold behavior which contrasts with the shy demeanor of the first one. They each try to entice the young lady. One maneuver tried by the bold guy is the cigarette/steam locomotive trick later to be seen in Jules et Jim. The shy young man tries his luck again, but finally they both give up. Together they leave the apartment and the young lady who is shown both relieved and disappointed. This short film was disowned by Truffaut, but it can be considered a prelude to the "love trio" theme found in several later films by Truffaut.