Tavernier made his breakthrough in 1974 with the Watchmaker in Saint-Paul, when he also began a long collaboration with the actor Philippe Noiret.
For that film, he was awarded the French Louis Delluc Prize and received a silver bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
He is also known for the Oscar-nominated musical Drama Around Midnight, which is a depiction of a jazz musician in 1950s Paris.
In total, Tavernier has been nominated for hundreds of international film awards.
Famous movies
Bertrand Tavernier has made several political films such as Everything Begins Today, about an old mining town in northern France, but also more poetic works, such as A Week's Vacation about a teacher who doubts his teaching role and A Sunday in the Country about the old painter Ladmiral.
The party can begin and the Solar Eclipse are other famous movies.
Tavernier leaves behind two children, Nils Tavernier who is also director and author Tiffany Tavernier.