He joined L'Écran français [fr] when he was nineteen, where he worked with Jean Renoir, Becker, and Grémillon.

He became friends with Erich Von Stroheim, Anna Magnani, Vittorio de Sica and created the monthly “Ciné Digest” with Henri Colpi.

In 1948, Tacchella, along with Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Astruc, Claude Mauriac, René Clément, and Pierre Kast, established Objectif 49, an avant-garde film club whose president was Jean Cocteau.

[2][3][additional citation(s) needed] Jean-Charles Tacchella directed eleven features, many of which have had successful international careers and been awarded prestigious prizes.

His movie Traveling avant (1987) is described as "a semi-autobiographical paean to his youth as a cinema fanatic and cine-club enthusiast in post-war Paris".