The War is Over by Alain Resnais

Rarely in the history of film has a screenwriter played such a decisive role as Jorge Semprún. Many of his screenplays capture the enduring power of film as a means of political intervention.

He wrote La guerre est finie (The War is Over, 1966), for Alain Resnais with autobiographical references, and Stavisky (1974). His collaboration with filmmaker Costa-Gavras gave rise to three classics of political denunciation: Z (1969), L’aveu (The Confession, 1970), and Section spéciale (Special Section, 1975).

Jorge Semprún wrote screenplays for fifteen projects between 1966 and 1997. He received two Oscar nominations, for Best Original Screenplay for La guerre est finie and Best Adapted Screenplay for Z.

There were many stories he wanted to tell through film, but not all of them came to fruition. His personal archive, held by the Bibliothèque littéraire Jacques-Doucet in Paris, includes several unpublished screenplays.