Film director Jacques Demy was born on June 5, 1931, in the Loire-Atlantique region of France. He passed away on October 27, 1990. His wife was the film director Agnès Varda, and his son was the actor Mathieu Demy.
Born and raised in the port city of Nantes, he aspired to become a film director at the age of 14. He met animator Paul Grimaud and film director Georges Rouquier, and worked with them while shooting short films as practice pieces. He made his directorial debut in 1961 with his first feature film, "Lola," which caught the eye of master director Jean-Pierre Melville and was hailed as "the pearl of the New Wave."
It was Demy's 1963 film, "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," starring Catherine Deneuve, that made him known worldwide. It won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for five Academy Awards, sweeping all the major film awards that year. The music, which he composed with Michel Legrand, is said to have breathed new life into the world of musical films. Even now, more than 50 years later, it continues to be loved worldwide, with numerous film critics ranking it in the top five musical films.

Following the success of this film, in 1967 he produced the full-scale musical film "The Young Girls of Rochefort," featuring an all-star cast. Sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac played the twins. Along with Michel Legrand's many famous songs, this film continues to be loved and acclaimed by the public.