Yann Gozlan

Early life Gozlan, the son of an engineer father and a nurse mother, grew up in Aubervilliers.

Career After having shot experimental films on video and Super 8, Yann Gozlan went in search of a producer for his first short film Pellis. Completed in 2003, the film depicts the world of dermatology and psychosomatic disorders. Another short film, Écho, followed in 2006 with Lubna Azabal in the lead role as a pregnant woman suffering from tinnitus and feeling tormented by the unexplained noises of her apartment where she is a recluse.

Gozlan was tapped by Sombrero Films to direct his feature film debut, Caged (Captifs), a horror film set against the backdrop of human organ trafficking. The film starred Zoé Félix in the main role. It was theatrically released in October 2010. The film won two awards the same year (Best Actress and Best Picture) at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival in Los Angeles.

In 2015, Gozlan continued his collaboration with screenwriter Guillaume Lemans, which began with the film Caged, on the film A Perfect Man (Un homme idéal), a thriller dealing with the spiral of lies and deception. The film was released in theaters in March 2015 with Pierre Niney in the lead role.

In 2017, collaborating again with Guillaume Lemans, he wrote and directed the action thriller Burn Out, based on the noir novel Balancé dans les cordes by Jérémie Guez. Combining Superbike motorcycle racing with drug trafficking in the city, the film was theatrically released in January 2018 with François Civil in the main role. In 2022, Borsalino Productions produced a remake of Burn Out entitled Centauro, directed by Spanish filmmaker Daniel Calparsoro.

Alongside his productions, Yann Gozlan collaborated with his friend Thomas Kruithof on the screenplay for La Mécanique de l'ombre, released in theaters in January 2017 and starring François Cluzet. The same year, alongside producer Wassim Béji, he became attached to Roman Polanski's Based on a True Story. An adaptation of the novel of the same name by Delphine de Vigan, the film was released in theaters in November 2017. It is a psychological thriller starring Emmanuelle Seigner and Eva Green. Gozlan served as associate producer of the film.

In 2021, Gozlan directed the mystery thriller Black Box (Boîte noire). The film stars Pierre Niney as Matthieu, a talented young black box analyst who is tasked with investigating a mysterious deadly plane crash. It was theatrically released in September 2021. Gozlan co-wrote the screenplay with Simon Moutaïrou and Nicolas Bouvet-Levrard. The film was a major success in France, where it sold 1.2 million admissions.

Gozlan's fifth film, Visions, is a psychological thriller starring Diane Kruger and Mathieu Kassovitz. Set in the south of France, Kruger stars as Estelle, an airline captain happily married to a doctor portrayed by Kassovitz. After a chance encounter with her ex Ana, Estelle has an affair. Estelle develops recurring visions, nightmares and hallucinations, which are intensifed when Ana disappears mysteriously.

Gozlan's sixth film, The Residence (Dalloway), was announced to wrap filming in August 2024. Gozlan co-wrote the screenplay with Nicolas Bouvet-Levrard and Thomas Kruithof, based on Tatiana de Rosnay's 2020 novel Flowers of Darkness . It stars Cécile de France as a writer who is assisted by an artificial intelligence system during a residency programme. Earlier in March 2024, it was announced that Gozlan would renuite with Pierre Niney for a film entitled Guru (Gourou), in which Niney portays a charismatic and manipulative self-help guru. Guru premiered in November 2025 at The American French Film Festival in Los Angeles, before being theatrically released in January 2026.

Filmography Year Title Director Screenwriter Notes 2004 Pellis Short film 2006 Écho Short film 2010 Caged 2015 A Perfect Man 2016 La Mécanique de l'ombre 2017 Based on a True Story Associate producer Burn Out 2021 Black Box 2023 Visions 2025 The Residence Guru

Accolades Award Date of ceremony Category Film Result César Awards 25 February 2022 Best Original Screenplay (Shared with Simon Moutaïrou and Nicolas Bouvet-Levrard) Black Box