Rouan became a director in her own right when she helmed a short film titled "Grosse". It won a César Award in 1986. She would become a feature film director with "Overseas" (1990), which won the Critics' Week award at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. She co-starred in the film with Marianne Basler and Nicole Garcia to portray sisters in colonial North Africa during the 1950s.