Ladj Ly (French: [ladʒ li]; born 19 March 1980 in Paris) is a French film director and screenwriter. He won a Jury Prize in Cannes Film Festival for Les Misérables in 2019. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.
Ly's parents are from Mali and he grew up in Montfermeil, a district of Bosquets. He started making films with his friends Kim Chapiron, Romain Gavras, and JR, in the collective Kourtrajmé.
He directed his first films, notably for Oxmo Puccino, and his first documentaries, 365 days in Clichy-Montfermeil, filmed after the 2005 French riots; Go Fast Connexion; and 365 jours au Mali (365 days in Mali).
Les Misérables is the first non-documentary film he directed. The film received many awards, notably at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and a nomination for the César Award for Best Short Film in 2018. In the same year, he was nominated for the César Award for Best Documentary Film for À voix haute : La Force de la parole with Stéphane de Freitas
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