Institut des hautes études cinématographiques
He was born on 15 January 1928 in Camaret-sur-Mer, Finistère, France, the son of a factory worker and a teacher. He joined the French Resistance during World War II at the age of 15 and later received the Croix de guerre and the Order of the Nation from Charles de Gaulle for his militant activity. He then joined the French Communist Party and studied film-making at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques, where he graduated in 1948.