Ladj Ly (; born 19 March 1980 in Paris) is a French film director and screenwriter. He won a Jury Prize in

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

for ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

'' in 2019. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

Biography

Ly's parents are from

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

and he grew up in Montfermeil, a district of Bosquets. He started making films with his friends

Kim Chapiron Kim Chapiron (born 4 July 1980) is a French film director, screenwriter, and musician of Vietnamese descent. Biography Of Vietnamese origin by his mother, Chapiron is the son of graphic designer Christian Chapiron, better known as ''Kiki Picasso ...

, Romain Gavras, and JR, in the collective Kourtrajmé. He directed his first films, notably for

Oxmo Puccino Abdoulaye Diarra (; born 3 August 1974), better known by his stage name Oxmo Puccino (, ), is a French-Malian rapper. Career A longtime hip hop fan, at age 21 Diarra began his collaboration with the fledgling rap collective Time Bomb, honing ...

, and his first documentaries, ' (''365 days in Clichy-Montfermeil''), filmed after the

2005 French riots The 2005 French riots (french: Émeutes de 2005 dans les Banlieues Françaises), was a three-week period of riots in the suburbs of Paris and other French cities, in October and November 2005. These riots involved youth in violent attacks, and t ...

; ''Go Fast Connexion''; and ''365 jours au Mali'' (''365 days in Mali''). In 2011, Ly was given a three-year prison sentence for

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

and false imprisonment. In 2012, the sentence was reduced on appeal to two years imprisonment, and one year suspended sentence. ''

'' is the first non-documentary film he directed. 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 The César Award for Best Short Film (french: César du meilleur film de court métrage) is an award presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma since 1992. Winners and nominees 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s See also *Academy ...

in 2018. In the same year, he was nominated for the

César Award for Best Documentary Film The César Award for Best Documentary Film (french: César du meilleur film documentaire) is an award presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma since 1995. History In 1995, director Marcel Ophüls protested that his film, t ...

for ' with . In 2018 in Montfermeil, Ly created a free film school, called "L'école Kourtrajmé".

References

External links

* * French people of Malian descent Living people 1978 births French film directors French screenwriters People from Montfermeil {{France-film-director-stub