Fabrice Du Welz (born 21 October 1972 in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

) is a Belgian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. He has directed several films including '' Calvaire'' in 2004, '' Vinyan'' in 2008 and '' Message from the King'' in 2016.

Career

Fabrice du Welz, born 21 October 1972. Initially he was a student at a Jesuit school. Before he studied at the Dramatic Arts Conservatory of

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

(

) then and then a year at the INSAS, the cinema training institute of Brussels. Starting in 1990, he directed a number of films in Super 8. After his studies, he collaborated on comedy sketches for

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

, "La Grande Famille", "Nulle Part Ailleurs". In 1999, he directed the short film ''Quand on Est Amoureux C'est Merveilleux'', which won the Grand Prize of the Gerardmer Festival in 2001. In 1999, he directed the short film ''A Wonderful Love'' that won the Grand Prize of the Festival of Gerardmer. Aged 25, in 2004 he directed his first feature film, '' Calvaire'' starring Laurent Lucas and

Jackie Berroyer Jackie Berroyer (born 24 May 1946) is a French actor, comedian and writer. Filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berroyer, Jackie 1946 births Living people French male film actors French male television actors 20th ...

which was selected in Critics' Week of the Cannes Film Festival 2005. In 2007, he directed '' Vinyan'' with Emmanuelle Béart and Rufus Sewell in Thailand and selected in official competition at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

in 2008. In 2012, he directed '' Colt 45'', from a screenplay by Fathi Beddiar starring

Gérard Lanvin Gérard Lanvin (; born 21 June 1950) is a César Award-winning French actor. He quit his studies when he was 17 to become an actor. He took on a role in ''Vous n'aurez pas l'Alsace et la Lorraine'' in 1977 on an offer from the actor Coluche. He ...

and

Joeystarr Didier Morville (; born 27 October 1967), better known by his stage name JoeyStarr, is a French rapper, record producer and actor, from Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, Île-de-France. He co-founded the French rap band Suprême NTM ...

, produced by Thomas Langmann that ultimately failed to deliver in the budget, forcing the director to delete important scenes that were too expensive. Moreover, the two stars refused to come back on the set as Du Welz would be there too. He stated "It almost ruined me" and that the set became "a toxic environment". Fabrice du Welz and Fathi Beddiar, later decided not to support the film when it was released in August 2014. In 2013, he directed ''

Alleluia ''Hallelujah'' (; , Modern Hebrew, Modern ) is an interjection from the Hebrew language, used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, ...

'', a free adaptation of the news story immortalized in 1970 by the film ''

The Honeymoon Killers ''The Honeymoon Killers'' is a 1970 American crime film written and directed by Leonard Kastle, and starring Shirley Stoler and Tony Lo Bianco. Its plot follows an overweight nurse who is seduced by a handsome con man, with whom she embarks on ...

'' starring Laurent Lucas and Lola Dueñas. The film was selected for the

Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (, formerly ) is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festival as a ...

at the

2014 Cannes Film Festival The 67th Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2014. New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the main competition. French actor Lambert Wilson hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. Turkish filmmaker Nuri ...

. In 2015, he directed '' Message from the King'' produced by David Lancaster (''Drive'', ''Whiplash'', ''Nightcrawler'') and Stephen Cornwell (''A Most Wanted Man'') in Los Angeles starring

Chadwick Boseman Chadwick Aaron Boseman (; November 29, 1976August 28, 2020) was an American actor. Through his two-decade career, he appeared in a number of projects spanning both blockbuster and independent films, and received various accolades, including ...

, Luke Evans,

Teresa Palmer Teresa Mary Palmer (born 26 February 1986) is an Australian actress and model. Following her film debut in '' Wolf Creek'' (2005), Palmer had supporting roles in films such as '' The Grudge 2'' (2006), '' Bedtime Stories'' (2008), ''The Sorcer ...

Alfred Molina Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is a British and American actor. He is known for his leading roles and character actor roles on the stage and screen. In a career spanning over five decades he has received a Drama Desk Award ...

and Natalie Martinez. The film premiered on 8 September 2016 at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. His next film, ''

Adoration Adoration is respect, reverence, strong admiration, and love for a certain person, place, or thing. The term comes from the Latin ''adōrātiō'', meaning "to give Homage (arts), homage or worship to someone or something". Ancient Rome In class ...

'', was released in 2019 to critical acclaim. It received the

André Cavens Award for Best Film André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal, ...

by the

Belgian Film Critics Association The Belgian Film Critics Association (, UCC) is an organization of film critics from publications based in Brussels, Belgium. History The Belgian Film Critics Association was founded in the early 1950s in Brussels. Its membership includes film r ...

(UCC). At the 11th Magritte Awards, ''Adoration'' was nominated for six awards, including Best Film and Best Screenplay for Du Welz.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Du Welz, Fabrice 1972 births Living people Belgian film directors Belgian horror film directors Belgian male screenwriters French-language film directors 21st-century Belgian screenwriters