Bertrand Bonello | |
|---|---|
 Bonello in 2015 | |
| Born | (1968-09-11)11 September 1968 (age 56)[1] |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | Full list |
Bertrand Bonello (French:[bɛʁtʁɑ̃bɔnɛlo]; born 11 September 1968) is a Frenchfilm director, screenwriter, producer, composer and actor. His work has been associated with theNew French Extremity.[2] He wrote and directedSomething 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), andThe Beast (2023). He also starred inPortrait of the Artist (2015), andTitane (2021). He was nominated for theCésar Award for Best Director forSaint Laurent, and was named aKnight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 2015.
Bonello's background is inclassical music,[3][4] and he started playing the piano at the age of five.[3] Later on he had a band, and then he discoveredpunk androck music and switched from classical topop music.[3]
He became interested in films at the age of twelve by watching horror films from directors such asDavid Cronenberg,Dario Argento,George A. Romero, andLucio Fulci.[3] He decided to become a director after watchingStranger Than Paradise (1984) byJim Jarmusch.[3] Before working as a director, he worked as asession musician on tours and on records for other artists.[3]
His feature directorial debut,Something Organic, was screened in the Panorama section of the1998 Berlin Film Festival.[1]
His second feature film,The Pornographer, won theFIPRESCI prize at the2001 Cannes Film Festival.[5] His third feature film,Tiresia, was nominated for thePalme d'Or at the2003 Cannes Film Festival.[6]
Bonello was a member of the jury of theCinéfondation & Short Films section at the2009 Cannes Film Festival.[5]
His 2011 filmHouse of Tolerance, a depiction of daily life in afin-de-siècle Parisianbordello, premieredIn Competition at the2011 Cannes Film Festival.[7]
His 2014 filmSaint Laurent,[8] a biopic of fashion designerYves Saint Laurent, competed for thePalme d'Or in the main competition section at the2014 Cannes Film Festival.[9] It received tenCésar Award nominations, includingBest Film andBest Director.[10] The film was selected as France's submission for theAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the87th Academy Awards.[11]
In 2016, Bonello released the thrillerNocturama.
Bonello was the president of the jury of the Cinéfondation & Short Films section at the2018 Cannes Film Festival.[5]
His 2019 film,Zombi Child, was screened in theDirectors' Fortnight section at the2019 Cannes Film Festival.[5]
His 2022 filmComa competed for theEncounters Award at the72nd Berlin International Film Festival and won the FIPRESCI Award at the festival.[12][13]
Bonello's tenth feature film,The Beast, is asci-fi romantic drama freely inspired byHenry James' 1903 novellaThe Beast in the Jungle.[14] It had its world premiere in official competition at the2023 Venice International Film Festival.[15]
Bonello owns the production company My New Picture, which has produced all his films sinceOn War (2008).[16][17]
In April 2023, Love Theme Music released a soundtrack album featuring original music by Bonello that he wrote for his films.[18]
Bonello was in a relationship with his frequent collaborator, French-Canadian cinematographerJosée Deshaies, with whom he had a daughter who was born in 2003.[19][20] Bonello's 2022 filmComa was dedicated to and inspired by his daughter.[20][21] He lives betweenParis andMontreal.[22]
| 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 | |||||
| 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 | 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 |
