Bertrand Bonello

Early life Bonello's background is in classical music, and he started playing the piano at the age of five. His third feature film, Tiresia, was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.

Bonello owns the production company My New Picture, which has produced all his films since On War (2008). Bonello was a member of the jury of the Cinéfondation & Short Films section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. His 2014 film Saint Laurent, a biopic of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, competed for the in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. It received ten César Award nominations, including Best Film and Best Director. The film was selected as France's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards.

In 2016, Bonello released the thriller Nocturama. In 2018 he was the president of the jury for the Cinéfondation & Short Films section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

Bonello's tenth feature film, The Beast (2023) a sci-fi romantic drama freely inspired by Henry James' 1903 novella The Beast in the Jungle, had its world premiere in the official competition of the 80th Venice International Film Festival.

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

In 2026, Bonello started filming his delayed project about the canonization process of Pope John Paul II, co-written by Thomas Bidegain. Starring Mark Ruffalo an American-born priest summoned by the Vatican, Charlotte Rampling as Polish-born American philosopher Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, Andrzej Chyra as Pope John Paul, Cezary Żak as Stanisław Dziwisz, Adam Bessa as Mehmet Ali Ağca, alongside Anton Lesser and Marisa Borini in supporting roles. Filming will take place in Rome, Matera, Warsaw and Szczawnica.

Personal life Bonello was in a relationship with his frequent collaborator, French-Canadian cinematographer Josée Deshaies, with whom he had a daughter, Anna, who was born in 2003, and who co-composed the score for his film The Beast. Bonello's 2022 film Coma was dedicated to and inspired by his daughter. He lives between Paris and Montreal.

Filmography Feature films

Short films Year Title Credited as NotesDirectorScreenwriterComposerProducerActor Role 1996 Who I Am Pylade Short film 2002 The Adventures of James and David Short film 2005 Cindy: The Doll Is Mine Short film 2006 My New Picture Short film 2010 Where the Boys Are Short film 2012 Die Frau Short film Ingrid Caven: Music and Voice 2014 Where Are You, Bertrand Bonello? Short film 2016 Sarah Winchester: Ghost Opera Short film 2020 Short film 2022 The Dam

Acting roles Year Title Role Director Notes 1996 Who I Am Pylade Bertrand Bonello 2003 Steve Cécilia Rouaud Short film 2004 A spectator Eugène Green 2006 We Should Not Exist 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

Awards and nominations

Decorations Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (2015)