Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire

Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (born 31 December 1968) is a French filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. He is best known as the director of films Johnny Mad Dog, A Prayer Before Dawn and Asphalt City. Sauvaire was born on 31 December 1968 in Paris, France. He currently lives in New York City. In 1991, Sauvaire started his film career as a first assistant director of the film Les Nuits Fauves by Cyril Collard. Then he joined the crew for the films Les Demons de Jesus and Les Grandes Bouches, directed by Bernie Bonvoisin; I Stand Alone directed by Gaspar Noé; Sous Les Pieds Des Femmes, directed by Rachida Krim; Hors Jeu, directed by Karim Dridi; Louise (Take 2), directed by Siegfried; and Love Me, directed by Laetitia Masson. He continued to work as an assistant director until 2000. At the end of 2000, he directed his three short films, La Mule (co-directed with Rossy De Palma), A Dios, and Matalo. In all three, he used the theme of violence among adolescents. In 2008, he made the film Johnny Mad Dog, co-produced with Mathieu Kassovitz. The film was later presented in the Official Selection, 'Un Certain Regard' section at the Cannes Film Festival, and won the Prix de l'Espoir. The film was an adaptation of the novel Johnny Chien Méchant by Congolese writer Emmanuel Dongala. It tells the story of a group of child soldiers fighting for the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebels in 2003, during the latter part of the Second Liberian Civil War. After the succe…