From Richard Dembo (24 May 24 1948 – 11 November 2004) was a French director and screenwriter. Dembo achieved worldwide recognition with his first film: La diagonale du fou. For the direction of this film, Dembo received an Oscar in 1984 for best foreign film,[1] as well as other numerous awards (César, Prix Louis Delluc). Michel Piccoli starred in the film as a Jewish citizen of the USSR. In 1993 Dembo directed L'instinct de l'ange with Hélène Vincent, Jean-Louis Trintignant, François Cluzet und Lambert Wilson. After a long pause during which he directed no films, Dembo directed La maison de Nina. On 11 November 2004, Dembo unexpectedly died in Paris under the symptoms of an intestinal obstruction. He was buried in Israel. He was 56.