Mini biography

Jean Pierre Dardenne (21 April 1951, Liège, Belgium)

After studying drama in the arts institute, Jean Pierre Dardenne and his brother Luc made some videos about the rough life in blue-collar small towns in the Wallonie.

After their meeting with filmmaker Armad Gatti and cinematographer Ned Burgess, they decided to enter in the movie business.

In 1978 they shot their first documentary, Le chant du rossignol, about the resistance against the Nazis during the second world war in Belgium.

“The truth is always less interesting than the fiction.”

In 1986 they shot their first fiction movie, Falsch, about a Jewish family massacred by the Nazis.

After their second movie, Je pense a vous, they released La Promesse, a movie about inmigration in Belgium. The film was a success worldwide winning awards in many festivals.

In 1999 they had another hit with Rosetta, that won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Festival. The movie tells the story of a blue collar worker with an alcoholic mother who tries to have a better life in a small belgium city.

In 2002, they came back to Cannes with their last movie, Le Fils, that won the ecumenical jury prize and the award for best actor for Olivier Gourmet. --IMDb

Director - Selected filmography

1. Young Ahmed | Le jeune Ahmed (2019)
   
2. Two Day, One Night | Deux jours, une nuit (2014)
   
3. The Kid with a Bike | Le gamin au vélo (2011)
   
4. Lorna's Silence | Le silence de Lorna (2008)
   
5. L'enfant | The Child (2005)
   
6. The Son | Le fils (2002)
   
7. Rosetta (1999)
   
8. La promesse (1996)