“What do we expect from young people, unknown filmmakers and early films? Let them shake us up, let them make us look at what we’re unable to see, let them enjoy the freedom, the sharpness, the recklessness and the daring that we sometimes no longer possess. The Cinéfondation has been working for 20 years to make these voices heard and I’m extremely proud this year to be able to accompany them.”
Bertrand Bonello was born in Nice in 1968. He alternates between music and cinema. He directed a creative documentary in 1996: Qui je suis, adapted from an autobiographical book of Pier Paolo Pasolini. His first feature, Something Organic (1998), was presented at the Berlin Festival (Panorama). The Pornographer (2001) starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, selected at the Cannes International Semaine de la Critique, won the FIPRESCI Prize. Tiresia competed at the 2003 Festival de Cannes. The Directors’ Fortnight showcased On War in 2008. House of Tolerance (2011) competed at the Festival de Cannes, received praise from the press and eight César nominations. Saint Laurent (2014), also in Competition at Cannes, represented France at the Oscars and received ten César nominations. That same year, Bertrand Bonello organised an exhibition at the Centre Pompidou and released an album, Accidents. He continues to direct short and musical films: Cindy, the Doll Is Mine (2005), an Official Selection at Cannes, My New Picture (2007), Where the Boys Are (2010), Ingrid Caven, Music and Voice (2012), all presented at Locarno, Sarah Winchester, Ghost Opera (2016), created for the 3e scène at the Paris Opera. In 2016, Nocturama came out, his 7th feature.
