Nicholas Ray
N. Ray 
Nicholas Ray (August 7, 1911 – June 16, 1979)
See his filmography form MUBI
“You like these films, but you can’t imagine how often they represent only fifty percent of what I wanted to do. You have no idea how I had to fight to achieve even that fifty percent.”
But while largely critically ignored and/or underappreciated for much of his career, Ray has always had his champions among cinephiles. As mentioned, the French New Wave adored him during his 1950s heyday (François Truffaut was another major admirer), and subsequent generations have rallied behind him, such as Wenders, Martin Scorsese, Jim Jarmusch, Philip Kaufman (who once tried to mount a biopic of his life), Oren Moverman (who wrote it), Curtis Hanson and many more.
Dennis Hopper, Wim Wenders, Bruno Ganz, and Nicholas Ray while filming ‘The American Friend,’ 1976 — Caterine Milinaire.
The film is a collaboration between Wenders and Ray to document Ray’s last days due to terminal cancer in 1979. The film is partially a homage to Ray who had a strong influence on Wenders’ work, and partially an investigation on life and death. Ray’s influence on Wenders includes Ray’s “love on the run” sub-genre as well as his film noir photography.
Nicholas Ray appears in a minor role in Wenders’ film The American Friend.
The film crew is extensively featured onscreen. Jim Jarmusch, Ray’s personal assistant at the time
Alain Corneau 
Aug 7 – birthday of Alain Corneau – French filmmaker of Tous Les Matin du Monde