Jowan Le Besco
Jowan Le Besco (born 26 August 1981) is a French actor, scriptwriter, director and chief cameraman. He is the second child in a family of five, who grew up in the world of theatre and film.
Jowan Le Besco | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 August 1981 Paris, France |
| Occupation | actor, film director and chief cameraman |
| Parent(s) |
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| Family | Isild Le Besco (sister) Maïwenn Le Besco (sister) Kolia Litscher (brother) |
Their mother is actress and journalist, Catherine Belkhodja, who is of French and Algerian ancestry. Their father is of Breton and Vietnamese descent.
Le Besco has worked on many occasions with his brother and sisters, with whom he collaborates on a regular basis as chief cameraman.
Early life and education
Their mother is an actress, and the children grew up in a life of theatre and film. His siblings include sisters Maïwenn, Isild, Leonor, and younger brother Kolia Litscher. All are involved in the film business as adults, having become actors, producers and directors.
Career
A former pupil of Lycée Charlemagne and Lycée Victor Hugo in Paris, two academic secondary schools, Jowan started cinema studies at the Paris Sorbonne University of Jussieu. During this period, he directed numerous short films. An award received for one of his short films won him editing software, which he used in a number of music video clips.
He pursued further studies at the Lyon Institut Lumière and Paris Gobelins School. He took part in Isild's first short film, produced by SOPADIN (a scriptwriting competition organisation). He took charge of photography in her Demi-tarif, written and directed by his sister Isild. It featured their younger brother Kolia Litscher in a main role.
The film won an award for best Junior script. Given their young age - both were under 20, Jowan and Isild had encountered difficulty finding a producer for this project. and their sister Leonor Graser produced it with the independent French film production company Karedas. The company arranged screening for the film at more than 50 festivals and it was praised by film critics.
Le Besco collaborated also with Isild and Kolia on Charly, which she produced. Their success on their first film helped them gain funding for this. They received an advance on future box-office receipts from the CNC, in addition to support of Arte. The film was released in September 2007.
Le Besco video captured the live theatre performance of Le Pois chiche, written and directed by his sister Maïwenn. She is also an actress. She was twice nominated for a César Award in 2007 for her first film Pardonnez-moi.
He also acted with his sister Isild Le Besco in Princesse Marie, a film featuring Catherine Deneuve.
Although he has had acting roles, Jowan has concentrated on film photography. To this end, he studied with Stéphane Marty. Later he worked with Caroline Champetier during the making of L'Intouchable, shot in India. He was charged with filming the cremation scenes.
Following an extended solitary stay in an Indian monastery, Le Besco returned to France with Yapo, a documentary he made there. It was selected for the 29th Cinéma du Réel Documentary Festival. This annual event for ethnological or social documentary films is organised by the Pompidou Centre in Paris.
Filmography
Feature films
- 1999 : La Puce by Emmanuelle Bercot (actor)
- 2002 : Un moment de bonheur by Antoine Santana (actor)
- 2004 : À tout de suite by Benoît Jacquot (assistant)
- 2004 : Princesse Marie by Benoît Jacquot (actor)
- 2006 : L'Intouchable by Benoît Jacquot (cameraman - assistant/second team)
- 2007 : Yapo by Jowan Le Besco (scriptwriter, director, chief cameraman, editor)
- 2007 : Charly by Isild Le Besco (Jowan Le Besco was chief cameraman)
Theatre
- 2004 : Le Pois chiche by Maïwenn Le Besco at the Café de la Gare theatre, with Maïwenn (video capture)
Awards
(for Demi-tarif)
- 2000: Award for best Junior script at the Paris Film Festival for Demi-tarif (as camera operator)
- 2004 : Special Jury Award for Demi-tarif at the European First Film Festival of Angers (as chief cameraman)
- 2004 : Procirep - Premiers Plans Award for Demi-tarif at Angers (as chief cameraman)
- 2004 : Special Jury Award for Demi-tarif at Seoul Festival (as chief cameraman)
- 2004: Jury Award for Demi-tarif at the Crossing Europe Festival of Linz (as chief cameraman)
- 2004 : Demi-tarif nominated for Louis Delluc Award (as chief cameraman)
References
External links
- Jowan Le Besco at IMDb
- for Jowan's photos and posters
- Jowan on Unifrance website