In 1970, Coutard wrote and directed his first feature film, "Hoa Binh", for which he won the Prix Jean Vigo and an award at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival. The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Coutard shot two more features over the course of the next fifteen years: "La Légion saute sur Kolwezi" in 1980 and "S.A.S. à San Salvador" in 1983. Coutard's cinematographer on all of his features was , who had been his frequent camera operator during his collaboration with Godard and with whom he'd served as co-cinematographer on the Irish documentary "Rocky Road to Dublin" (1967).