The Belgian director of the shock films Alleluia and The Ordeal has joined the Filmmakers' Jury for the festival's 7th edition!
After studying at the Dramatic Arts Academy in Liège and the National Film and Theater School in Brussels, Fabrice Du Welz contributed to Canal+'s hit show Nulle Part Ailleurs, for which he directed a number sequences that have gained cult status.
His first short film, Quand on est amoureux c'est merveilleux, won the Grand Prize at the Gérardmer Fantasy Film Festival. In 2004, he directed his debut feature film, The Ordeal, starring Laurent Lucas and Jackie Berroyer. It was selected at La Semaine de la Critique - Cannes in 2005, after which this genre film was ranked as a cult classic for specialists in the horror genre.
In 2007, he made Vinyan in Thailand, starring Emmanuelle Béart and Rufus Sewell, which was presented in the Official Selection at the Venice International Film Festival in 2008. In 2014, his thriller Colt 45 was released, with Gérard Lanvin and Joey Starr in the lead roles.
He then shot Alleluia (loosely based on a well-known crime case, which had been brought to the screen in 1970 in The Honeymoon Killers), once again featuring Laurent Lucas. It was selected at the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes in 2014 and won the Filmmakers' Jury Prize at the 2016 MyFrenchFilmFestival. Nicolas Winding Refn, jury president in 2016, described this thriller as "an unsettling, disturbing film directed with incredible mastery."
Fabrice du Welz went on to make his first American film, Message from the King, in 2015, produced by David Lancaster (Drive, Whiplash). The film was shot in Los Angeles and stars Luke Evans, Chadwick Bosemen, Teresa Palmer, and Alfred Molina. It was presented at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in September 2016.
In the lead-up to the presentation of his new opus at our upcoming 7th edition of MyFrenchFilmFestival, Fabrice Du Welz has joined the Filmmakers' Jury! The winning film chosen by the jury will be announced on February 13, 2017.
