Gilles Bourdos

Gilles Bourdos (born 1963) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his atmospheric cinema, which uses troubling themes in contrast with strong aesthetic imagery. He was one of the founders of the French production company Persona Films which produced most of his early work. Bourdos often collaborates with filmmaker Michel Spinosa, cinematographer Mark Lee Ping Bin and musician Alexandre Desplat.

Life and career Bourdos, who was born in Nice, France, made his feature film début at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival with Disparus (1998), a political thriller and love triangle during the Surrealist movement in Paris in 1938. His second critically acclaimed feature, Inquietudes (2003), is based on the Ruth Rendell novel A Sight for Sore Eyes and stars Gregoire Colin and Julie Ordon. His first English language film, Afterwards (2008), featured Evangeline Lilly, John Malkovich, and Romain Duris, and was based on the French bestseller Et Après... by Guillaume Musso.

His widely acclaimed 2012 film Renoir competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. The film tells the forgotten story of Andree Heuschling, also known as Catherine Hessling, who was the last model of the impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and the first actor in the films of his son, the director Jean Renoir. The story is set in the south of France during World War I. The film stars Michel Bouquet, Christa Theret, and Vincent Rottiers. Renoir was selected as the French entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.

Filmography Year Title Credited as NotesDirectorScreenwriterProducer 1986 Un Cadeau de noël Short 1988 La Rue ouverte Short 1989 L'Eternelle idole Short 1990 La Jeune fille et la mort Short 1993 Relache Short 1994 Emmène-moi 1996 Mirek n'est pas parti 1997 Un frère 1998 Disparus 2003 Inquiétudes 2008 Afterwards 2012 Renoir Nominated—Cannes Film Festival - Prix Un certain regardNominated—Lumière Award for Best FilmNominated—Lumière Award for Best Director 2017 Endangered Species