Jacques Audiard

Jacques Audiard (b. 1952, Paris) is a French filmmaker. He studied literature and film editing before establishing himself as one of the central figures of French cinema over the past three decades. He lives and works in Paris.

After working as a screenwriter throughout the 1980s, Audiard made his directorial debut with See How They Fall (Regarde les hommes tomber, 1994). A Self-Made Hero (1996) received the Prix du jury at Cannes. Read My Lips (2001) and The Beat That My Heart Skipped (De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté, 2005) each received the César for Best Film. A Prophet (Un prophète, 2009) received the Grand Prix at Cannes and multiple Césars, including Best Film. Rust and Bone (De rouille et d'os, 2012) competed for the Palme d'Or. Dheepan (2015), about a Sri Lankan Tamil family seeking asylum in France, received the Palme d'Or at Cannes. The Sisters Brothers (Les Frères Sisters, 2018) was his first English-language feature. Paris, 13th District (Les Olympiades, 2021), shot in black and white, returned to a French urban setting. His most recent film, Emilia Pérez (2024), a Spanish-language musical crime drama, received multiple awards at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival — including Best Actress for the ensemble cast — and was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards, receiving international recognition on a scale unprecedented for a French-produced film.

His films are known for their formal discipline, psychological specificity, and their engagement with figures on the margins of French and international society.