Simon AbkarianFilmography

Born:: March 5, 1962 in Gonesse, France
Occupation:: Actor
Biography:: Born into a family of Armenian descent and raised in Lebanon, actor Simon Abkarian honed his dramatic skills in two vastly different locales: Los Angeles, CA -- where he studied with an Armenian theatrical ensemble -- and Paris, France, where he joined Ariane Mnouchkine's Théâtre du Soleil (in...Read More

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Le Chant des Mariées

Actors: Lizzie Brocheré, Olympe Borval, Simon Abkarian, Najib Oudghiri, Karin Albou

Synopsis: Two young women find that their differences bring them closer during a difficult time in this drama from writer and director Karin Albou. Nour (Olympe Borval) and Myriam (Lizzie Brocheré) grew up in the same neighborhood in Tunis, and as they've grown into adulthood they've stayed close friends Read More

10/23/09
Rage

Actors: Rizwan Ahmed

Synopsis: Director Sally Potter examines the effects of globalism in the information age in this drama following a young blogger named Michelangelo as he interviews a series of eccentric subjects over the course of seven days. In a prominent New York fashion house, flamboyant designer Merlin prepares to Read More

1/1/09
The Army of Crime

Actors: Simon Abkarian, Virginie Ledoyen, Robinson Stévenin, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, Lola Naymark

Synopsis: A daring band of rebels take on Nazi forces in Europe in this wartime drama from director Robert Guediguian. Born in Armenia, Missak Manouchian (Simon Abkarian) had settled in France by the time World War II broke out; a socialist who stood in fierce opposition to the Axis forces occupying his Read More

2009
Musée Haut, Musée Bas

Actors: Michel Blanc, Simon Abkarian, Victoria Abril, Pierre Arditi, Alfredo Arias, John P. Arnold, Sophie Artur, Helene Babu, Josiane Balasko

Synopsis: With this high-concept, all-star French comedy (it features at least sixteen Gallic marquee names including Michel Blanc and Josiane Balasko), director Jean-Michel Ribes sets out to skewer the pretentiousness of the European art world. It's just a typical, ordinary day at a French art museum, but Read More

11/19/08
Khamsa

Actors: Marc Cortes, Tony Fourmann, Mehdi Laribi, Magali Contreras, Simon Abkarian, Raymond Adam

Synopsis: A young man caught between two cultures is looking for a place to call home in this drama from France. Marco (Marc Cortes) was born to an Arab mother and a Romany father; his mom died when he was very young, and at thirteen he's been living in a foster home after being abandoned by his dad, who Read More

10/8/08
The Seven Days

Actors: Ronit Elkabetz, Albert Illouz, Yaël Abecassis, Simon Abkarian, Hanna Laslo

Synopsis: Filmmakers Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz revisit some of the characters from their 2004 picture Ve Lakachta Lecha Isha in this mordant examination of family life. It's 1991, the Middle East is still reeling from the impact of the Gulf War, and Ilana (Keren Mor) is an Israeli woman who has Read More

2008
Secrets of State

Actors: Gérard Lanvin, Simon Abkarian, Vahina Giocante, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Rachida Brakni

Synopsis: Two people find their lives taking unexpected turns dictated by the war on terror in this thriller from French writer and director Philippe Haim. Diane (Vahina Giocante) has turned her back on life as a streetwalker and is working towards a new career as an Arabic translator. However, when Diane Read More

2008
Persepolis

Actors: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Gena Rowlands, Sean Penn, Iggy Pop

Synopsis: Filmmakers Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi collaborated to co-write and co-direct this adaptation of Satrapi's bestselling autobiographical graphic novel detailing the trials faced by an outspoken Iranian girl who finds her unique attitude and outlook on life repeatedly challenged during the Read More

12/25/07
Trivial

Actors: Christopher Lambert, Sophie Marceau, Nicolas Briancon, Simon Abkarian, Robert Hossein

Synopsis: A suicidal police detective travels from La Havre to Deauville at the behest of a mysterious femme fatale in the suspenseful sophomore feature from actress-turned-director Sophie Marceau. For Lt. Jacques Renard (Christopher Lambert), every night is a struggle. Rendered sleepless following the Read More

2007
Casino Royale

Actors: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Giancarlo Giannini, Caterina Murino

Synopsis: Actor Daniel Craig assumes the role formerly occupied by such screen greats as Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and Timothy Dalton to set out on the character's very first 007 mission. James Bond has earned his "00" status by masterfully executing a pair of death-defying professional assassinations. Now Read More

11/17/06
Journey to Armenia

Actors: Ariane Ascaride, Gérard Meylan, Simon Abkarian, Serge Avedikian, Chorik Grigorian

Synopsis: A crisis forces a family to mend old wounds in this drama from French filmmaker Robert Guediguian. Anna (Ariane Ascaride) is a heart surgeon who lives and works in Marseilles; her late mother was Italian, and her curmudgeonly father Barsam (Marcel Bluwal) was born and raised in Armenia. Anna has Read More

2006
Le Serpent

Actors: Clovis Cornillac, Yvan Attal, Pierre Richard, Simon Abkarian

Synopsis: Gallic writer-director Eric Barbier borrows Hitchcock's old premise of an innocent unjustly accused of lurid and brutal actions - with all evidence pointing inconveniently to him - for the Parisian-set thriller Le Serpent. Yvan Attal stars as Mandel, a slightly introverted photographer careening Read More

2006
Yes

Actors: Joan Allen, Simon Abkarian, Sam Neill, Shirley Henderson, Sheila Hancock

Synopsis: Filmmaker Sally Potter directed this artful meditation on the dynamics of the romantic and sexual relationship. She (Joan Allen) is an intelligent and gifted genetic scientist of Irish-American heritage who feels smothered in her marriage to a British politician (Sam Neill). While dining at a Read More

6/24/05
Zaïna, Rider of the Atlas

Actors: Sami Bouajila, Simon Abkarian, Aziza Nadir, Michel Favory, Assaad Bouab

2005
I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed

Actors: Charles Berling, Simon Abkarian, Josiane Balasko, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Fabienne Babe

Synopsis: The kidnapping and assassination of Moroccan political activist Mehdi Ben Barka, fictionalized in Yves Boisset's L'Attentat in 1972, gets a more historically accurate treatment in Serge Le Péron's noirish docudrama, the tabloid-headline-titled I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed. The film is narrated by Read More

2005
The Gamblers

Actors: Pascal Elbe, Simon Abkarian, Isaac Sharry, Linh-Dan Pham, Teng Fei Xiang

Synopsis: The young French writer-director Frederic Balekdjian makes his feature bow with The Gamblers (Les mauvaises joueurs), a gritty urban crime drama and coming-of-age tale that has borne favorable comparisons to Scorsese's Mean Streets, Robert Mulligan's Bloodbrothers, and James Toback's Fingers. Read More

2005
In Your Dreams

Actors: Disiz LaPeste, Blandine Bury, Vincent Elbaz, Edouard Montoute, Béatrice Dalle

2005
Almost Peaceful

Actors: Simon Abkarian, Zabou Breitman, Denis Podalydès, Vincent Elbaz, Lubna Azabal

Synopsis: A group of Jewish Holocaust survivors attempt to restart their lives after Europe's liberation from Nazi occupation in director Michel Deville's 2002 ensemble drama Almost Peaceful. Husband and wife couple Albert (Simon Abkaryan) and Lea (Zabou Breitman) attempt to rebuild their tailoring business Read More

8/20/04
Ve Lakachta Lecha Isha

Actors: Ronit Elkabetz, Simon Abkarian, Gilbert Melki, Sulika Kadosh, Dalia Malka Beger

Synopsis: A married Moroccan woman seeking to start over in Israel struggles with the decision to leave her traditional-minded husband in directors Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz's thought provoking drama. Israel, the late-1970s: Vivian and her husband Eliyahoo are growing apart. While Eliyahoo clings to the Read More

2004
Ni Pour Ni Contre (Bien Au Contaire)

Actors: Marie Gillain, Vincent Elbaz, Zinedine Soualem, Simon Abkarian, Dimitri Storoge

Synopsis: A not-so-worldly twentysomething gets caught up with some shady Parisians in director Cedric Klapisch's 2003 crime comedy-drama Not for or Against. Wallflower camerawoman Caty (Marie Gillain) is three years into her career and residency in the French capital with little to show for it in the Read More

3/5/03
Ararat

Actors: David Alpay, Charles Aznavour, Eric Bogosian, Brent Carver, Marie-Josée Croze

Synopsis: Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan explores his Armenian heritage, and how the country's tragic history has touched several generations of the nation's expatriates, in this ambitious drama. Edward Saroyan (Charles Aznavour), a veteran filmmaker of Armenian descent, is in Toronto shooting a film about Read More

11/15/02
The Truth About Charlie

Actors: Mark Wahlberg, Thandie Newton, Tim Robbins, Park Joong-Hoon

Synopsis: Director Jonathan Demme filters the classic Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant vehicle Charade through the influence of the French New Wave in this stylish romantic thriller. Regina Lambert (Thandie Newton) has been having second thoughts about her marriage to the often enigmatic art dealer Charlie (Stephen Dillane Read More

10/25/02
Lila Lili

Actors: Alexia Monduit, Genevieve Tenne, Simon Abkarian, Zinedine Soualem, Antoine Chappey

Synopsis: Micheline, who is pregnant, lives in a home for women from which she tries to observe the world with calm and serenity. Among other women of the home who are also pregnant the frequently asked question is whether they will keep their baby or not. In her first film, director Marie Vermillard Read More

1/6/99
J'Irai Au Paradis, Car L'Enfer Est Ici

Actors: Arnaud Giovaninetti, Gérald Laroche, Claire Keim, Jean Miez, Brigitte Catillon

Synopsis: In this French gangster drama, a young hoodlum, new to his famed father's dubious profession, successfully completes his first hit but then finds himself trapped in between a brutal vendetta between rival gangs. To save himself, Francois joins forces with a motley gang of crooks, led by the Read More

10/1/97
When the Cat's Away...

Actors: Garance Clavel, Zinedine Soualem, Renee Le Calm, Olivier Py

Synopsis: When the Cat's Away is a gentle French comedy that explores the problems and anxieties of contemporary urbanites. When Chloe (Garance Clavel), a young Parisian, decides to take a long-overdue vacation, she has to find someone to look after Gris-Gris, her beloved cat. Everyone, including her gay Read More

1996
Time Has Come

Actors: Darina Al Joundi, Simon Abkarian, Rida Khoury, Antoine Moultaka, Nogi Souraly

Synopsis: This Lebanese love story comments upon the "lost generation" who left when the war began in 1975. Kamil, an unsuccessful musician, and the wealthy Raya are returning to Lebanon after extended absences. They while sailing to Beirut. Kamil is returning to make a music video. Raya returns to find her Read More

1994
Istoriya Vozvrashcheniya

Actors: Simon Abkarian, Darina El-Dzhounsh

1994