Ozon was born on November 15, 1967 in Paris. He graduated in Cinema Studies from the University of Paris. Then he entered the famous French school of cinema, La FEMIS (L'Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Métiers de l'Image et du Son) in the Film Direction section in 1990. After passing out from La FEMIS, he has been making films in super-8, video, 16mm and 35mm formats. Many of his short films have been in competition in various international festivals. He is considered one of the most talented French filmmakers of recent years.

According to critic Claire Vassé, Francois Ozon is 'inspired by a high and demanding idea of film. His work is distinguished above all by his predilection for portrayals of transgression and sexuality that lead the viewer into shadowy zones he would never have thought to visit.' He has become one of the most renowned international filmmakers after the critical and commercial success of two of his recent films 8 Women and Swimming Pool. He is working on his seventh feature film 5x2 (Five Times Two), in its post-production stage, which is scheduled to be released in France in September this year. He changes his themes, treatments and styles with each of his new films. That is why it is often difficult to place him in any particular film school or film movement. Despite this, however, he has become a major voice in the French cinema.

Ozon's famous and critically acclaimed films are: Sitcom (1998), Criminal Lovers (1999), Water Drops on Burning Rocks (1999), Under the Sand (2000), 8 Women (2002) and Swimming Pool (2003). The following five films will be screened in the retrospective:

Sitcom (1998) is a film about an upper class family turned up side down by a rat, brought home by the father. The children and the parents are going to discover each other...in the chaos.

Criminal Lovers (1999) revolves around two teenagers, Luc and Alice, in a small French provincial town who decide to commit a murder and assassinate a classmate. They try to bury the corpse in a forest where they meet a man leading a cloistered life. With references from Hitchcock to Hansel and Gretel, it is a film that blurs the boundaries of reality, pleasure and crime, all with certain Ozon flair.

Under the Sand (2000) is about a married couple - Marie, an English lecturer and her husband Jean. For years, they have happily spent their vacation together in the Landes region of western France. But this summer, while Marie naps on the beach, her husband vanishes without a trace whilst swimming in the sea. Did he drown? Did he run off? She carries on with her life as if he were still alive.

The action of 8 Women (2002) takes place in an isolated mansion in the snowy countryside of France in the late 1950s. A family is gathered for the holiday season with Christmas preparations underway. But there will be no celebration - the master of the house has been murdered! Who is the murderer? The film assembles some of the most famous and beautiful of French actresses of the last few generations: Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Béart, Fanny Ardant, Virginie Ledoyen, Danielle Darrieux, Ludivine Sagnier and Firmine Richard.

Swimming Pool (2003) is a story about Sarah Morton (Charlotte Rampling), a rigid and conservative, yet successful English mystery writer.

Sabbir Chowdhury, a film critic and film activist, teaches in the Department of English at Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.