LiberPress Cinema Award 2016

Robert Guédiguian was born in Marseille. It is in this city that most of his films take place, generally dealing with the life of the working class. He studied sociology in Paris and was linked to the French Communist Party (PCF) for some time. His films have always had a strong political and social commitment: they have reflected the lives of simple people in factories, in the streets and in the port of Marseille and deal with unemployment, the abuse of workers, job insecurity, immigration, marginalisation and oppression. His wife, Ariane Ascaride, has featured in almost all Guédiguian’s films, since Dernier été.

He has made more than fifteen films: À la vie, à la mort! (1995); Marius et Jeannette (1997); À la place du coeur (1998); La ville est tranquille (2000); À l’attaque! (2001); Marie-Jo et ses deux amours (2002), award winner at the Cannes and Valladolid film festivals; Mon père est ingénieur (2004); Président Mitterrand (Le promeneur du Champ de Mars) (2005); Le voyage en Arménie (2006), related to the fact that his father is of Armenian descent; Lady Jane (2008), winner at the Berlin Festival in the official feature film section; L’armée du crime (2008), Special Jury Prize for the best script at the 2009 Valladolid International Film Festival; Les neiges du Kilimandjaro (2011), Espiga de Plata Audience Award at the Valladolid Festival; Au fil d’Ariane (2014), and Une histoire de fou (2015), about the Armenian genocide.