Ladj Ly
Birth : 1978-01-03, Mali
History
Ladj Ly (born 19 March 1980 in Paris) is a French film director and screenwriter. He won a Jury Prize in Cannes Film Festival for Les Misérables in 2019. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.
Ly's parents are from Mali and he grew up in Montfermeil, a district of Bosquets. He started making films with his friends Kim Chapiron, Romain Gavras, and JR, in the collective Kourtrajmé.
He directed his first films, notably for Oxmo Puccino, and his first documentaries, 365 jours à Clichy-Montfermeil (365 days in Clichy-Montfermeil), filmed after the 2005 French riots; Go Fast Connexion; and 365 jours au Mali (365 days in Mali).
In 2011, Ly was given a three-year prison sentence for kidnapping and false imprisonment. In 2012, the sentence was reduced on appeal to two years imprisonment, and one year suspended sentence.
Les Misérables 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 in 2018. In the same year, he was nominated for the César Award for Best Documentary Film for À voix haute: La Force de la parole with Stéphane de Freitas.
In 2018 in Montfermeil, Ly created a free film school, called "L'école Kourtrajmé".
Source: Article "Ladj Ly" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Screenplay
This charts the journey of a fierce young woman, Habi, and a budding new mayor, Pierre, crossing paths in an underprivileged suburb on the outskirts of Paris. Habi, a native of the suburb who is involved in social orgs helping locals, becomes a political figure. Pierre, meanwhile, is a former doctor who takes the city’s reins after the mayor’s death and sets off to follow his agenda.
Director
This charts the journey of a fierce young woman, Habi, and a budding new mayor, Pierre, crossing paths in an underprivileged suburb on the outskirts of Paris. Habi, a native of the suburb who is involved in social orgs helping locals, becomes a political figure. Pierre, meanwhile, is a former doctor who takes the city’s reins after the mayor’s death and sets off to follow his agenda.
Self
The making of ATHENA covers the entire production of the film and gives us an in-depth perspective of the scenes that everyone is talking about, from the 12-minute long shot sequence to the scene that sent the cameraman 30 meters above the ground. Highlights include how Romain Gavras brought his vision to the screen, along with his co-writer Ladj Ly and Dali Benssalah (Abdel) and how the music, composed by GENER8TION, plays a unique role to make ATHENA a modern tragedy.
Producer
Hours after the tragic death of their youngest brother in unexplained circumstances, three siblings have their lives thrown into chaos.
Screenplay
Hours after the tragic death of their youngest brother in unexplained circumstances, three siblings have their lives thrown into chaos.
Producer
Amin is a young spotter with the gift of the gab. Isabelle, a theater director from Paris, sees an opportunity for Amin to become a soloist in her opera.
Himself
A documentary following JR's artwork giving a global voice to everyday people.
Producer
Ali, a young Moroccan student, arrives to study in France and has to stay with his cousin Mo for a few days before starting university. He will not land in the Paris of his dreams but in the suburb of Clichy-Montfermeil in Seine-Saint-Denis. Disillusionment will give way to beautiful, touching and singular encounters in the heart of a neighborhood with great diversity.
Writer
Inspired by the 2005 riots in Paris, Stéphane, a recent transplant to the impoverished suburb of Montfermeil, joins the local anti-crime squad. Working alongside his unscrupulous colleagues Chris and Gwada, Stéphane struggles to maintain order amidst the mounting tensions between local gangs. When an arrest turns unexpectedly violent, the three officers must reckon with the aftermath and keep the neighborhood from spiraling out of control.
Director
Inspired by the 2005 riots in Paris, Stéphane, a recent transplant to the impoverished suburb of Montfermeil, joins the local anti-crime squad. Working alongside his unscrupulous colleagues Chris and Gwada, Stéphane struggles to maintain order amidst the mounting tensions between local gangs. When an arrest turns unexpectedly violent, the three officers must reckon with the aftermath and keep the neighborhood from spiraling out of control.
Paoudré
To escape his life of crime, a Paris drug dealer takes on one last job involving Spain, unhinged gangsters, his longtime crush and his scheming mother.
Director
JR, a contemporary artist, returns to Clichy-Montfermeil in the suburbs of Paris where his artistic adventure first began 14 years ago with Ladj Ly, his strongest link to the neighborhood. Both decide to create a monumental mural portraying a singular portrait of the inhabitants of this territory, inspired by the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. "The Clichy-Montfermeil Chronicles" not only illustrates how an urban utopia of the 1960’s has transformed into a neighborhood in a state of unrest, but also sheds a light on subjects JR and Ladj Ly covered over a decade ago.
Director
Raise the voice, speak eloquently, construct and argue a discourse. Tools so necessary in life as exciting to build. In Paris, the date of Eloquentia, an oratory contest where young people —not exactly privileged— will measure their strength, is approaching.
Director
With a gun at his belt and a truncheon in his hand, Pento has just joined the Seine-Saint-Denis anti-crime brigade. With his teammates, he develops specific methods.
Writer
With a gun at his belt and a truncheon in his hand, Pento has just joined the Seine-Saint-Denis anti-crime brigade. With his teammates, he develops specific methods.
Jeune noir tchat vidéo
Redheaded teen Remy is bullied by his soccer teammates and drawn into fights with his younger sister and mother in their cramped apartment. After a flare-up of domestic violence, he flees home and is tracked down by a bitter guidance counselor, Patrick, also a redhead. Patrick looks upon Remy’s sullen insolence with both sympathy and disdain and decides to toughen him up...
Director
An exclusive report on the traffic of cannabis completely shot in the housing area of Clichy Montfermeil, renowned impenetrable zone of no-right.
Editor
In 2005 Lady Ly directed a documentary focusing on the riots that took place in Clichy-Montfermeil. He interviewed a few protagonists and witnesses, using the necessary involvement and distance to understand what was happening.
Cinematography
In 2005 Lady Ly directed a documentary focusing on the riots that took place in Clichy-Montfermeil. He interviewed a few protagonists and witnesses, using the necessary involvement and distance to understand what was happening.
Director
In 2005 Lady Ly directed a documentary focusing on the riots that took place in Clichy-Montfermeil. He interviewed a few protagonists and witnesses, using the necessary involvement and distance to understand what was happening.
Ladj
A group of young people leave a disco and bump into a shepherd who is ready to spend his night worshipping Satan.
In Easy Pizza Riders, an urban spoof western where people would kill for a pair of silver Reebok, the beloved French youth culture of the time is on full display: sneakers, pizza delivery, fish eye lenses, funk music. Shot when Gavras was only 21 years old, with a modest video camera, the short announces his unique talent for crafting imaginative, stylish, thrilling film sequences and for capturing era-defining moments.
Screenplay
Ali is a 14-year-old teenager on the loose. To give him a proper education, his single mother sends him to a madrassa in Mali. When Ali comes back ten years later, he is a completely changed young man in his twenties. He has received a pious religious education and his deep knowledge of Islam makes him the perfect candidate to be the local Imam of his city, despite his young age and the doubts of his mother. His modern views and charisma quickly make him popular amongst his Muslim community, until his will to do good meets his new ambition.
At 35 years old, photographer JR is a street art worldwide star. Discovered after the Paris’ suburb riots of 2005 for his portraits of young people, his collages have adorned the galleries of the Louvre, the Pompidou Center, the Pantheon, the National Assembly ever since … From New York to Shanghai, and the Israeli-Palestinian wall to the US-Mexico border, he has stuck or exhibited giant photos on the walls of dozens of countries and associated hundreds of thousands of unknown artists with his projects. With the active collaboration of the artist himself, the documentary “# JR” tells the extraordinary adventure of this art activist whose spectacular interventions are all clear expressions of humanism, pacifism or remembrance relayed by his very strong involvement in social networks. For JR, art can help change the world.
