Ladj Ly
Born (1980-03-19) 19 March 1980 (age 43)
NationalityFrench
OccupationFilm director
Screenwriter
Notable workLes Misérables

Ladj Ly (French pronunciation: [ladʒ li]; born 19 March 1980 in Paris) is a French film director and screenwriter. He won a Jury Prize in Cannes Film Festival for Les Misérables in 2019. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.[1]

Biography

Ly's parents are from Mali and he grew up in Montfermeil, a district of Bosquets. He started making films with his friends Kim Chapiron, Romain Gavras, and JR, in the collective Kourtrajmé.[2]

He directed his first films, notably for Oxmo Puccino, and his first documentaries, 365 jours à Clichy-Montfermeil [fr] (365 days in Clichy-Montfermeil), filmed after the 2005 French riots; Go Fast Connexion; and 365 jours au Mali (365 days in Mali).

In 2011, Ly was given a three-year prison sentence for kidnapping and false imprisonment.[3][4] In 2012, the sentence was reduced on appeal to two years imprisonment, and one year suspended sentence.[5]

Les Misérables is the first non-documentary film he directed.[6] The film received many awards, notably at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and a nomination for the César Award for Best Short Film in 2018. In the same year, he was nominated for the César Award for Best Documentary Film for À voix haute : La Force de la parole [fr] with Stéphane de Freitas [fr].[7][8][9]

In 2018 in Montfermeil, Ly created a free film school, called "L'école Kourtrajmé".[10]

With co-writers Alexis Manenti and Giordano Gederlini, he won the Lumières Award for Best Screenplay,[11] and was nominated for the César Award for Best Original Screenplay[12] and the European Film Award for Best Screenwriter,[13] for the 2019 feature film version of Les Misérables.

His second feature film, Les Indésirables, is slated to premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Les Miserables review". The New York Times. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  2. ^ Sterlé, Carole (19 April 2019). "Montfermeil : Ladj Ly dans la cour des grands, à Cannes !". leparisien.fr (in French). Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Amad Ly, ex 'porte-parole' des quartiers, condamné à 5 ans de prison" (in French). Agence France-Presse. 2 March 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2020 – via paris.maville.com.
  4. ^ Korda, Robin (19 December 2019). "Ladj Ly, réalisateur des "Misérables", condamné à la prison : trois questions sur la polémique". leparisien.fr (in French). Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  5. ^ Mathiot, Cédric; Leboucq, Fabien (18 December 2019). "Ladj Ly a-t-il fait de la prison pour tentative de meurtre, comme l'écrivent "Causeur" et "Valeurs actuelles" ?". Libération.fr (in French). Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Interview with Ladj Ly". Indiewire. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  7. ^ Kaganski, Serge (7 April 2017). "À voix haute. La force de la parole". Les Inrockuptibles (in French). Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  8. ^ Sterlé, Carole (17 February 2017). "Montfermeil : « Les Misérables de Ladj Ly, primé à Clermont-Ferrand". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Ladj Ly porte la voix des banlieues aux César". francetvinfo.fr (in French). 1 March 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  10. ^ Sterlé, Carole (25 September 2018). "Clichy - Montfermeil : le cinéaste Ladj Ly forme la relève". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  11. ^ Scott Roxborough, "France’s Lumiere Awards: ‘Les Misérables’ Wins Best Film, Roman Polanski Tapped as Best Director". The Hollywood Reporter, 27 January 2020.
  12. ^ Melanie Goodfellow, "César awards: ‘Les Miserables’ wins best film, Polanski takes best director". Screen Daily, 28 February 2020.
  13. ^ Nancy Tartaglione, "European Film Awards Nominations: Polanski’s ‘An Officer And A Spy’, Almodovar’s ‘Pain And Glory’, Bellocchio’s ‘Traitor’ Lead". Deadline Hollywood, 9 November 2019.
  14. ^ Michael Rosser, "Ladj Ly’s ‘Les Indésirables’ to world premiere at Toronto 2023". Screen Daily, 5 July 2023.

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