Bertrand Mandico

Bertrand Mandico
Bertrand Mandico at Cannes 2018
Born (1971-03-21) March 21, 1971 (age 53)
Toulouse, France
OccupationFilm director
Years active1997–present

Bertrand Mandico is a French film director of short films, medium-length films, experimental essays, and three feature films.[1][2] The Wild Boys, his first feature film, was named the top film of 2018 by Cahiers du cinéma. His films are often interested in the body and gender fluidity and incorporate photos and written elements.[2][3]

Born in 1977 [4] in Toulouse, Mandico graduated from the film directing program at the Gobelins school in Paris.

Mandico has an unusual working method.[2] He prefers to create the audio for his films in post-production. Actors post-synchronize themselves, and the environmental sounds and music are layered on. However, he always shoots his images on color film, with no post-production images. Background projection and superimposition are done during the shoot.

He created the Incoherence Manifesto in 2012 with Icelandic filmmaker Katrín Ólafsdóttir.[2] He states that

To be incoherent means to have faith in cinema, it means to have a romantic approach, unformatted, free, disturbed and dreamlike, cinegenic, an epic narration.

A group of young filmmakers including Yann Gonzalez, Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel have been influenced by the manifesto.

Mandico has commenced "20+1 Projections", a collaborative project with Romanian-American actress Elina Löwensohn, where they are to make 21 short films in 21 years.[2] Though each film is meant to be a unique narrative and formal work, they are to revolve around the themes of aging and desire. As of 2018, they've shot 8 films and completed 6 of them.

He was named best director at the Vilnius International Film Festival in 2018 for The Wild Boys.[5]

Filmography

Mandico has directed 40 short films, TV-commercials and musical films.[6]

Feature films

Mandico's feature films include:[a]

Year English title French title
2017 The Wild Boys Les Garçons sauvages
2021 After Blue or After Blue (Dirty Paradise) After Blue (Paradis sale)
2023 She Is Conann Conann
2024 Dragon Dilatation

Short films

Year English title French title Notes
1997 La Chanson du Jardinier Fou La Chanson du Jardinier Fou
1999 The Blue Cavalier Le cavalier bleu
2000 Monsieur Flupersu Monsieur Flupersu
2002 Osmose Osmose
2002 Chris Dangoisse : De droite Chris Dangoisse : De droite
2002 Chris Dangoisse : Ils dansent Chris Dangoisse : Ils dansent
2003 C’était le chien d’Eddy C’était le chien d’Eddy
2004 All You Have Seen Is True Tout ce que vous avez vu est vrai
2006 He Says He's Dead Il dit qu'il est mort...
2007 Mie l’enfant descend du songe Mie l’enfant descend du songe
2007 Essai 135 Essai 135
2009 His Majesty Little Beard Sa majesté petite barbe
2010 The Life and Death of Henry Darger Lif og daudi Henry Darger
2010 Burlesque and Cold Burlesque et froid
2011 Boro in the Box Boro in the Box
2012 Living Still Life La résurrection des natures mortes (Living Still Life)
2013 Féminisme, rafale et politique Féminisme, rafale et politique
2013 Prehistoric Cabaret Prehistoric Cabaret
2014 S... Sa... Salam... Salammbô... S... Sa... Salam... Salammbô...
2014 Memories of a Boobs Flasher Souvenirs d'un montreur de seins
2015 Our Lady of Hormones Notre-Dame des Hormones
2015 Any Virgin Left Alive? Y a-t-il une vierge encore vivante ?
2015 Depressive Cop Depressive Cop
2017 Odile of the Valley Odile dans la vallée
2018 L’île aux robes L’île aux robes
2018 Apocalypse After Ultra pulpe Part of Ultra Rêve, a collection of three short films by Mandico, Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, and Yann Gonzalez.
2018 À rebours À rebours
2019 Niemand Niemand
2019 ExtaZus ExtaZus
2020 The Return of Tragedy The Return of Tragedy
2021 HUYSwoMANS HUYSwoMANS
2022 The Last Cartoon The Last Cartoon Part of L’émission a déjà commencé.
2022 J’ai tué Kate Bush J’ai tué Kate Bush Unused footage from the feature film After Blue.
2023 Rainer, A Vicious Dog in a Skull Valley Rainer, A Vicious Dog in a Skull Valley Part of L’émission a déjà commencé.
2023 We Barbarians Nous les barbares Part of L’émission a déjà commencé.

Notes

  1. ^ By definition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,[7] and the British Film Institute,[8] a feature film has a runtime of more than 40 minutes.

References

  1. ^ Mandico.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Rotterdam 2018 Interview: WILD BOYS, Bertrand Mandico on Shooting Gender-Bending Surreal Film". ScreenAnarchy. 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
  3. ^ "Bertrand Mandico". IFFR. 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
  4. ^ Mandico.
  5. ^ Blaney2018-04-03T10:54:00+01:00, Martin. "'Winter Brothers' triumphs at Vilnius Film Festival". Screen. Retrieved 2019-04-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Bertrand Mandico - Festival Scope: Festivals on Demand for Film Professionals World Wide". pro.festivalscope.com. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
  7. ^ "79th Academy Awards Rules - Rule Two". www.oscars.org. Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 28 October 2006. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  8. ^ "BFI Filmography FAQ". www.bfi.org. BFI. Retrieved 13 January 2024.