Ladj Ly Explained

Ladj Ly
Birth Date:	1980 3, df=yes
Nationality:	French
Occupation:	Film director Screenwriter
Notable Works:	Les Misérables

Ladj Ly (in French pronounced as /ladʒ li/; 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.^[1]

Biography

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.^[2]

He directed his first films, notably for Oxmo Puccino, and his first documentaries, (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.^{[3] [4]} In 2012, the sentence was reduced on appeal to two years imprisonment, and one year suspended sentence.^[5]

Les Misérables is the first non-documentary film he directed.^[6] 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 with .^{[7] [8] [9]}

In 2018 in Montfermeil, Ly created a free film school, called "L'école Kourtrajmé".^[10]

With co-writers Alexis Manenti and Giordano Gederlini, he won the Lumières Award for Best Screenplay,^[11] and was nominated for the César Award for Best Original Screenplay^[12] and the European Film Award for Best Screenwriter,^[13] for the 2019 feature film version of Les Misérables.

His second feature film, Les Indésirables, premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2023.^[14]

Notes and References

1. News: Les Miserables review. 13 January 2020 . The New York Times . 28 November 2019.
2. Web site: Montfermeil : Ladj Ly dans la cour des grands, à Cannes ! . leparisien.fr . 19 April 2019 . fr . 16 May 2019 . Sterlé . Carole.
3. Web site: Amad Ly, ex 'porte-parole' des quartiers, condamné à 5 ans de prison . . paris.maville.com . 2 March 2011 . fr . 21 August 2020.
4. Web site: Ladj Ly, réalisateur des "Misérables", condamné à la prison : trois questions sur la polémique . leparisien.fr . 19 December 2019 . fr . 21 August 2020 . Korda . Robin.
5. Web site: Mathiot . Cédric . Leboucq . Fabien . Ladj Ly a-t-il fait de la prison pour tentative de meurtre, comme l'écrivent "Causeur" et "Valeurs actuelles" ? . Libération.fr . 18 December 2019 . fr . 21 August 2020.
6. News: Interview with Ladj Ly . 13 January 2020 . Indiewire . 1 January 2020.
7. Web site: fr. Kaganski, Serge. À voix haute. La force de la parole. Les Inrockuptibles. 2017-04-07. 2019-05-16.
8. Web site: fr. Sterlé, Carole. Montfermeil : « Les Misérables de Ladj Ly, primé à Clermont-Ferrand. Le Parisien. 2017-02-17. 2019-05-16.
9. Web site: fr. Ladj Ly porte la voix des banlieues aux César. francetvinfo.fr. 2018-03-01. 2019-05-16.
10. Web site: fr. Sterlé, Carole. Clichy - Montfermeil : le cinéaste Ladj Ly forme la relève. Le Parisien. 2018-09-25. 2019-05-16.
11. Scott Roxborough, "France’s Lumiere Awards: ‘Les Misérables’ Wins Best Film, Roman Polanski Tapped as Best Director". The Hollywood Reporter, 27 January 2020.
12. Melanie Goodfellow, "César awards: ‘Les Miserables’ wins best film, Polanski takes best director". Screen Daily, 28 February 2020.
13. Nancy Tartaglione, "European Film Awards Nominations: Polanski’s ‘An Officer And A Spy’, Almodovar’s ‘Pain And Glory’, Bellocchio’s ‘Traitor’ Lead". Deadline Hollywood, 9 November 2019.
14. Web site: Goodfellow . Melanie . 2023-07-05 . Ladj Ly’s ‘Les Indésirables’ To World Premiere At Toronto; Festival Says Paris Outer-City Suburb Drama Is “Timely Tale Of Revolution” . 2024-07-09 . Deadline . en-US.