Radu Mihaileanu is a French director and screenwriter born in Bucarest, Romania on April 23, 1958. Son of a Jewish journalist, he fled from Romania in 1980 during Ceausescu’s dictatorship, and found refuge in Israel, and then in France where he studied cinema at IDHEC. During the 1980’s, he worked as a director assistant, notably for Marco Ferreri.
In 1993, he directed his first film, BETRAYAL, for which he also co-wrote the script. This film was well received and received prizes around the world including the Great Prize of Americas, the Montreal Prize for First Feature Film and a special mention from the Ecumenical Jury at the Montreal World Film Festival.
With his second film, TRAIN OF LIFE in 1998, Radu Mihaileanu achieved international success. The film received a Cesar nomination for Best Screenplay. In addition, the film won dozens of awards, including: the Fipresci and Anicaflash Prizes at the Venice Film Festival; the Audience Award at the Cottbus Festival of East European Cinema; the Audience and Criticism Award at the Sao Paulo International Film Festival; the David Prize for Best Foreign Film; the Audience Award at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival; the Audience Award at the Miami Film Festival; the Audience Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival; the Silver Ribbon of The National Syndicate of Italian Film Journalists; and it was nominated for Best Foreign Film by the Great Prize Brazil Cinema.
In 2002, Mihaileanu directed LES PYGMÉES DE CARLO for television, which won the Youth Jury Prize at the Namur International French-Speaking Film Festival.
With LIVE AND BECOME in 2005, Mihaileanu won the Cesar Award for Best Original Screenplay (with Alain Michel Blanc). The film was also nominated for Cesar Awards for Best Film and Best Director. LIVE AND BECOME was honored at the Berlinale with the Ecumenical Jury Prize, the Panorama Audience Prize and the Europa Cinemas Label. The Copenhagen Film Festival also awarded the film the Golden Swan for Best Film.
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