Biographie

Thomas Cailley

Born on April 29, 1980 in Clermont-Ferrand, he studied at Sciences Po Bordeaux, then at Audencia Nantes business school. He went on to work in film distribution and documentary film production before taking the competitive examination for the screenplay section of La Fémis1 at ENS Louis-Lumière. During his studies at La Fémis, he wrote several feature-length screenplays, including his final thesis, the screenplay for Les Combattants, co-written with Claude Le Pape. Parallel to his studies, he wrote and directed a short film, Paris Shanghai, which was very well received at film festivals and won numerous awards. He then directed Les Combattants. This first feature, which mixes cinematographic genres, is based on a romance set against a backdrop of army training. After being selected for the Directors' Fortnight at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, the director went on to win numerous awards that focus on first films, both in France and internationally.