Is François Ozon the most talented French film-maker currently working? That’s a big ask, in a very crowded field, but Ozon has got the back catalogue to back it up. From his 1998 feature debut Sitcom (notwithstanding 1997’s 52-minute See the Sea), early films such as Fassbinder adaptation Water Drops on Burning Rocks and star-stuffed crime musical 8 Women, on to more recent works including Frantz and Summer of 85, Ozon has ranged widely across styles and genres, offering something new and original wherever he’s gone. He’s even done an English-language period drama, Angel, starring Romola Garai.

A distinctive feature of Ozon’s career is his ability to command great performances from top-notch female stars, often repeatedly working with them. Charlotte Rampling, Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, Sophie Marceau and Kristin Scott Thomas are just a few of the names who have popped up in his films.

Ozon has completed an amazing 22 features in the 27 years since that 1998 debut, and won a string of awards: his 2012 drama In the House, about a teacher who becomes unhealthily involved in the life of a precocious and difficult student, is probably the most garlanded. His new film When Autumn Falls (AKA When Fall Is Coming in the US) stars Hélène Vincent in a story that starts off gently bucolic, then heads somewhere darker and more dangerous. So now’s the time to ask Ozon a question in the comments below; we’ll publish his replies in a fortnight.

• When Autumn Falls is in UK & Irish cinemas from 21 March.