Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, Mathieu Amalric is an actor and director. At eighteen years of age, his first experience as an actor came with a small role in Les Favoris de la lune by Otar Iosseliani, during which his interest in the inner workings of cinema grew, an interest which would subsequently lead him to work as an assistant director.
He directed his first short film in the 80’s, Marre de café, and then Sans Rires (1991), which he presented at the Premiers Plans d’Angers Festival. It was on this occasion that he met Arnaud Desplechin, who would, years later, offer him a role in Comment je me suis disputé…(ma vie sexuelle), a film which won him the César for Most Promising Actor in 1997. In the same year, he directed his first autobiographical feature film, Mange ta soupe. In 2004, he resumed his collaboration with Arnaud Desplechin in the film Rois et Reine, for which he received the César for Best Actor. Also coveted by American cinema, he acted in Steven Spielberg’s Munich, Le Scafandre et le papillon by Julian Schnabel, Quantum of Solace by Marc Forster and, most recently, The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson.
He returned to directing in 2010 with Tournée, his fourth feature-film. He received the Prix de la Mise en Scène at the Cannes Festival, consolidating his status as a director. In 2015 he directed La Chambre Bleue, an adaptation of Georges Simenon’s novel, screened as part of the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Festival. In 2016 he had roles in À Jamais, Benoît Jacquot’s film adaptation of The Body Artist by Don DeLillo, Le secret de la chambre noire, by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, as well as starring in Arnaud Desplechin’s latest film Les fantômes d’Ismaël, the Portuguese premiere of which is set for later this year.
In this year’s edition of the Cannes Festival, his latest film Barbara, a biopic of the cult French singer, won the Prix de la poésie du cinéma in the Un Certain Regard section.
AT THE FESTIVAL
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
November 21st, 3PM
Centro Cultural Olga Cadaval
BARBARA
November 21st, 9.45PM
Espaço Nimas
BARBARA
November 22nd, 9.30PM
Cinemas NOS Amoreiras
THREE MUSIC FILMS
November 23rd, 9.30PM
Cinema Medeia Monumental