Alain Pol

September 17, 1916

Alain Pol, born September 17, 1916 in Besançon in France, was a director and director of photography and cinematographer for the Lumière company. He was married to Janine Renaud, with whom he had 3 children then remarried to Odette Gourmel. He is known for the production of his daring and innovative documentary films including "À L'Assaut de la Tour Eiffel", halfway between documentary and fiction, the filmmaker films two teams of mountaineers who illegally climb the Eiffel Tower to the top before going back down. The action is punctuated by the intervention of gendarmes who try to stop their progress. This film won an award at the Venice Biennale and won the Louis Lumière Prize in 1948. He also directed numerous other documentaries including "Le Socle" (1948), "Jouons Le Jeu" (1952), as cinematographer on "Around The World With Orson Welles: The Dominici Affair" and many others... He died on June 5, 2013.