Olivier Ayache-Vidal, a French film director and screenwriter, was born on December 27, 1969. After studying social sciences and communications, he began his career in the creative department of an advertisement agency.
In 1992, Ayache-Vidal transitioned to a photographic reporter, working for the UNESCO and the Gamma agency, where he traveled the world and completed thirty projects in fifteen countries over the course of five years. This experience in journalism shaped his working method, which emphasizes extensive research to create stories that are as close to reality as possible.
Ayache-Vidal's vision of cinema, often described as "lived-in filmmaking," aims to blur the line between reality and fiction. He frequently employs non-professional actors and draws inspiration from real-life events, resulting in tragicomic stories that are both poignant and humorous.
His first comic script, Fox One – Armageddon, was published in 1997 and became a bestseller, selling over 90,000 copies in five languages. The series was based on his own research, which included attending the Red Flag Air Force Exercise at the Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and visiting French Air Force Bases.
Ayache-Vidal's debut short film, Undercover, premiered in 2002 and won multiple international awards. The seven-minute film blended cinema and live performance, exploring the theme of the blurred distinction between fiction and reality.
In 2004, he directed Coming-out, a comedy starring Omar Sy, which was later adapted into a live show by comedians Omar et Fred. The following year, he released Mon dernier rôle, a black comedy starring Patrick Chesnais and featuring a fake news broadcast with Patrick Poivre d'Arvor. The film was selected for fifty festivals and won several awards, including the grand prize at the Meudon short film festival and the Comedia Festival in Montreal.
In 2007, Ayache-Vidal returned to his journalistic roots, shooting the documentary Hôtel du Cheval Blanc, which exposed the deplorable living conditions of families hosted in unsanitary hotels every year. The film was shot over a period of six months.
In 2008, he traveled to China to adapt and stage his first theatre performance, The Nutcracker ballet, which featured 39 artists from the Chinese State Circus. The production went on a world tour, starting in France in 2009.
After a five-year hiatus from filmmaking, Ayache-Vidal returned to cinema in 2012, writing and directing Welcome to China, a short film starring Gad Elmaleh and Arié Elmaleh. The film was shot in Shanghai and presented the two brothers playing their own roles.
In 2013, Ayache-Vidal began researching his first feature film, which tells the story of a high school teacher in Paris who is transferred to the city's poorer suburbs.
