Bertrand Bonello
Bonello in 2015
Born (1968-09-11) 11 September 1968 (age 55)[1]
Nice, France[1]
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • producer
  • composer
  • actor
Years active1996–present
Children1
AwardsFull list

Bertrand Bonello (French: [bɛʁtʁɑ̃ bɔnɛlo]; born 11 September 1968) is a French film director, screenwriter, producer, composer and actor. His work has been associated with the New French Extremity.[2] He wrote and directed Something Organic (1998), The Pornographer (2001),Tiresia (2003), Cindy: The Doll Is Mine (2005), On War (2008), House of Tolerance (2011), Saint Laurent (2014), Nocturama (2016), Zombi Child (2019), Coma (2022), and The Beast (2023). He also starred in Portrait of the Artist (2015), and Titane (2021). He was nominated for the César Award for Best Director for Saint Laurent, and was named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 2015.

Early life

Bonello's background is in classical music,[3][4] and he started playing the piano at the age of five.[3] Later on he had a band, and then he discovered punk and rock music and switched from classical to pop music.[3]

He became interested in films at the age of twelve by watching horror films from directors such as David Cronenberg, Dario Argento, George A. Romero, and Lucio Fulci.[3] He decided to become a director after watching Stranger Than Paradise (1984) by Jim Jarmusch.[3] Before working as a director, he worked as a session musician on tours and on records for other artists.[3]

Career

His feature directorial debut, Something Organic, was screened in the Panorama section of the 1998 Berlin Film Festival.[1]

His second feature film, The Pornographer, won the FIPRESCI prize at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.[5] His third feature film, Tiresia, was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.[6]

Bonello was a member of the jury of the Cinéfondation & Short Films section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.[5]

His 2011 film House of Tolerance, a depiction of daily life in a fin-de-siècle Parisian bordello, premiered In Competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.[7]

His 2014 film Saint Laurent,[8] a biopic of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, competed for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival,[9] and received ten César Award nominations, including Best Film and Best Director.[10] The film was also selected as France's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards.[11]

In 2016, he released the thriller Nocturama.

Bonello was the president of the jury of the Cinéfondation & Short Films section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.[5]

His 2019 film, Zombi Child, was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.[5]

His 2022 film Coma competed for the Encounters Award at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival and won the FIPRESCI Award at the festival.[12][13]

Bonello's tenth feature film, The Beast, is a Sci-Fi romantic drama freely inspired by Henry James' 1903 novella The Beast in the Jungle,[14] and had its world premiere in official competition at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival.[15]

Bonello also owns the production company My New Picture, which produces all of his films since 2008's On War.[16][17]

In April 2023, Love Theme Music released a soundtrack album featuring original music by Bonello that he wrote for his films.[18]

Personal life

Bonello was in a relationship with his frequent collaborator, French-Canadian cinematographer Josée Deshaies, with whom he had a daughter who was born in 2003.[19][20] Bonello's 2022 film Coma was dedicated to and inspired by his daughter.[20][21] He lives between Paris and Montreal.[22]

Filmography

As filmmaker

Year Title Credited as Notes
Director Screenwriter Composer Producer Actor Role
1996 Who I Am (Qui je suis) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Pylade Short film
1998 Something Organic (Quelque chose d'organique) Yes Yes Yes
2001 The Pornographer Yes Yes Yes
2002 The Adventures of James and David Yes Yes Yes Short film
2003 Tiresia Yes Yes
2005 Cindy: The Doll Is Mine Yes Yes Short film
2006 My New Picture Yes Yes Yes Yes Short film
2008 On War Yes Yes Yes Yes Also executive producer
2010 Where the Boys Are Yes Yes Short film
2011 House of Tolerance Yes Yes Yes Yes
2012 Die Frau Yes Short film
Ingrid Caven: Music and Voice Yes Yes
2014 Where Are You, Bertrand Bonello? (Où en êtes-vous, Bertrand Bonello?) Yes Yes Yes Short film[23]
Saint Laurent Yes Yes Yes Yes Libération journalist
Portrait of the Artist Yes Yes Bertrand
2016 Nocturama Yes Yes
Sarah Winchester: Ghost Opera Yes Yes Short film
2019 Zombi Child Yes Yes
2020 Où en êtes-vous? (Numéro 2) Yes Yes Yes Short film[24]
2022 Coma Yes Yes Yes Yes
The Dam Yes
2023 The Beast Yes Yes

Acting roles

Year Title Role Director Notes
1996 Who I Am (Qui je suis) Pylade Bertrand Bonello
2003 Lapin intégral Steve Cécilia Rouaud Short film
2004 Le pont des Arts A spectator Eugène Green
2006 We Should Not Exist (On ne devrait pas exister) Bertrand Hervé P. Gustave
2012 Hand in Hand (Main dans la main) Prétendant Hélène Marchal Valérie Donzelli
2014 Saint Laurent Libération journalist Bertrand Bonello
2015 Portrait of the Artist Bertrand Antoine Barraud
2021 Titane Alexia's father Julia Ducournau

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Bertrand Bonello

Decorations

References

  1. ^ a b c "Bertrand Bonello". La Semaine de la Critique of Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  2. ^ Quandt, James (February 2004). "Flesh & Blood: Sex and violence in recent French cinema". ArtForum. Archived from the original on 2022-07-10. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Weston, Hillary (11 August 2017). "Behind Closed Doors: A Conversation with Bertrand Bonello". The Criterion Collection. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Bertrand Bonello, Président of the Cinéfondation and short films Jury". Festival de Cannes. 9 March 2018. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d "Festival de Cannes: Bertrand Bonello biography". Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Tiresia". Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  7. ^ "Festival de Cannes 2011: Official Selection". Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2011-04-14.
  8. ^ "Bertrand Bonello on Cinema". Crash Magazine. 25 April 2015. Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Festival de Cannes 2014: Official Selection". Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  10. ^ "Saint Laurent". Académie des César (in French). Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Oscars: France Selects 'Saint Laurent' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. 22 September 2014. Archived from the original on 3 October 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  12. ^ Pearce, Leonard (2 February 2022). "First Clips and Plot Details for Bertrand Bonello's Coma, Premiering at Berlinale". The Film Stage. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  13. ^ "Two Silver Bears for French cinema at the 72nd Berlinale". UniFrance. 17 February 2022. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  14. ^ Roos, Gautier (25 December 2021). "[INTERVIEW BERTRAND BONELLO] Le grand entretien chaos" [[INTERVIEW BERTRAND BONELLO] The Great Chaos Interview]. Chaos Reign (in French).
  15. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (25 July 2023). "Venice Lineup Includes Films by Bradley Cooper, Sofia Coppola, Ava DuVernay, David Fincher and More". Variety. Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  16. ^ "My New Picture". UniFrance. Archived from the original on 28 August 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  17. ^ "My New Picture [FR]". Cineuropa. Archived from the original on 28 August 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  18. ^ "Bertrand Bonello Film Music Album Announced". Film Music Reporter. 6 April 2023. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  19. ^ "L'Apollonide - Souvenirs de la Maison Close | Conversation entre Bertrand Bonello et Laure Adler". GNCR Groupement National des Cinémas de Recherche (in French). Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  20. ^ a b "Berlinale | Programme - Coma". Berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  21. ^ Katz, David (15 February 2022). "Bertrand Bonello • Director of Coma". Cineuropa. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  22. ^ de Baecque, Antoine (13 August 2003). ""La ville a un aspect ultime village gaulois". Bertrand Bonello à Montréal". Libération. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  23. ^ "Où en êtes-vous, Bertrand Bonello?". Centre Pompidou. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  24. ^ "Finite Rants". Fondazione Prada. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  25. ^ "Nomination dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres juillet 2015". Ministère de la culture et de la communication (in French). 4 September 2015. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016.

Further reading

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