Bille August
Encyclopedia
Bille August is a Danish
Academy Award winning film
and television
director
. His film Pelle the Conqueror
from 1987 won the Palme D'or
, Academy Award and Golden Globe. He is one of the very few directors to win the Palme D'or
twice, winning the prestigious award again in 1991 for The Best Intentions
, based on the autobiographical script by Ingmar Bergman
. He was married to Swedish actress Pernilla August
from 1991 to 1997. His son Anders August
is a screenwriter.
, China
and taken a position as Tianpeng Media's Art Director, aiming to produce Chinese films for Tianpeng Media over the next few years. Tianpeng Media is a new media company established in 2010. The company so far has produced two films, The Women Knight of Mirror (竞雄女侠秋瑾) and The Years of Qi Xiao Fu (七小福之燃情岁月), which will be released later this year. Bille is the first foreign director to be hired by the Chinese film company. Recently, August also accepted the invitation from the Hangzhou government to serve as a "culture consultant" for the city.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
Academy Award winning film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. His film Pelle the Conqueror
Pelle the Conqueror
Pelle the Conqueror is a 1987 Danish film by Bille August that tells the story of two Swedish immigrants to Denmark, a father and son, who try to build a new life for themselves...
from 1987 won the Palme D'or
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
, Academy Award and Golden Globe. He is one of the very few directors to win the Palme D'or
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
twice, winning the prestigious award again in 1991 for The Best Intentions
The Best Intentions
The Best Intentions is a 1992 Swedish drama film directed by Bille August and written by Ingmar Bergman. It is semi-autobiographical and tells the story of the complex courtship of Bergman's parents, Erik and Karin , and the difficult early years of their marriage, up to the point where Anna is...
, based on the autobiographical script by Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
. He was married to Swedish actress Pernilla August
Pernilla August
Pernilla August is a Swedish actress, director and script-writer. Being one of Sweden's leading actresses and a long time collaborator with director Ingmar Bergman, she won the Best Actress Award at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival for her role in his The Best Intentions...
from 1991 to 1997. His son Anders August
Anders August
Anders Frithiof August is a Danish screenwriter, graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2007.He wrote the short film The Pig, that was nominated for an Oscar in 2009...
is a screenwriter.
Career
On September 23, 2011, Bille August announced that he has opened his studio in HangzhouHangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and taken a position as Tianpeng Media's Art Director, aiming to produce Chinese films for Tianpeng Media over the next few years. Tianpeng Media is a new media company established in 2010. The company so far has produced two films, The Women Knight of Mirror (竞雄女侠秋瑾) and The Years of Qi Xiao Fu (七小福之燃情岁月), which will be released later this year. Bille is the first foreign director to be hired by the Chinese film company. Recently, August also accepted the invitation from the Hangzhou government to serve as a "culture consultant" for the city.
Selected filmography
- Honning måne (1978, In My Life)
- Verden er så stor, så stor (1980)
- TV Movie
- Maj (1982)
- TV Movie
- ZappaZappa (film)Zappa is a 1983 Danish drama film directed by Bille August. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Adam Tønsberg - Bjørn* Morten Hoff - Mulle* Peter Reichhardt - Steen* Lone Lindorff - Bjørn's mother...
(1983)- based on the book by Danish writer Bjarne ReuterBjarne ReuterBjarne Reuter is a Danish writer and screenwriter, best known for his books for children and teenagers.Many of his works are set in the fifties and sixties, the time period of his childhood and adolescence. Many also deal with the Copenhagen area, where he was born...
- based on the book by Danish writer Bjarne Reuter
- Busters verdenBusters verdenBusters verden is a Danish children's television series and movie from 1984. Based on a play by Bjarne Reuter, Buster's verden deals with the experiences of young Buster Oregon Mortensen...
(1984, Buster's world)- based on the book by Danish writer Bjarne ReuterBjarne ReuterBjarne Reuter is a Danish writer and screenwriter, best known for his books for children and teenagers.Many of his works are set in the fifties and sixties, the time period of his childhood and adolescence. Many also deal with the Copenhagen area, where he was born...
- based on the book by Danish writer Bjarne Reuter
- Tro, håb og kærlighed (1984, Twist and Shout)
- sequel to Zappa
- Pelle ErobrerenPelle the ConquerorPelle the Conqueror is a 1987 Danish film by Bille August that tells the story of two Swedish immigrants to Denmark, a father and son, who try to build a new life for themselves...
(1987, Pelle the Conqueror)- based on a novel by Danish author Martin Andersen NexøMartin Andersen NexøMartin Andersen Nexø was a Danish writer. He was the first significant Danish author to depict the working class in his writings, and the first great Danish socialist, later communist, writer.-Biography:...
- won the Golden Palm at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival1988 Cannes Film Festival- Jury :*Ettore Scola*Claude Berri*David Robinson*Yelena Safonova*George Miller*Hector Olivera*Nastassja Kinski*Philippe Sarde*Robby Muller*William Goldman-Feature film competition:* A World Apart by Chris Menges...
and an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language FilmAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language FilmThe Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
- based on a novel by Danish author Martin Andersen Nexø
- Den goda viljan (1991, The Best Intentions)
- script by Ingmar BergmanIngmar BergmanErnst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
. - won the Golden Palm at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival1992 Cannes Film Festival- Jury :*Gérard Depardieu *John Boorman *Carlo Di Palma *Jamie Lee Curtis *Joële Van Effenterre *Lester James Peries *Nana Djordjadze *Pedro Almodóvar *René Cleitman...
.
- script by Ingmar Bergman
- The House of the SpiritsThe House of the Spirits (film)The House of the Spirits is a 1993 German-Danish-Portuguese dramatic film starring Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Winona Ryder and Antonio Banderas. The supporting cast includes Vanessa Redgrave, María Conchita Alonso, Armin Mueller-Stahl and Jan Niklas...
(1993)- based on a novel by ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an author Isabel AllendeIsabel AllendeIsabel Allende Llona is a Chilean writer with American citizenship. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the "magic realist" tradition, is famous for novels such as The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts , which have been commercially successful...
.
- based on a novel by Chile
- The Young Indiana Jones ChroniclesThe Young Indiana Jones ChroniclesThe Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. The series explores the childhood and youth of the fictional character Indiana Jones and primarily stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Corey Carrier as the title character, with...
(1993) Two episodes- Vienna, November 1908 (Season 2, Episode 9)
- Northern Italy, June 1918 (Season 2, Episode 10)
- JerusalemJerusalem (film)Jerusalem is the title of a Swedish international feature-film from 1996, based upon two novels, Jerusalem I + II by Swedish autor and Nobel laureate Selma Lagerlöf...
(1996)- based on a novel by the Swedish author Selma LagerlöfSelma LagerlöfSelma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf was a Swedish author. She was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and most widely known for her children's book Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige ....
.
- based on a novel by the Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf
- Smilla's Sense of SnowSmilla's Sense of Snow (film)Smilla's Sense of Snow is a 1997 thriller film directed by Bille August, based on the book Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow a 1992 novel by Danish author Peter Høeg, starring Julia Ormond, Gabriel Byrne, Tom Wilkinson, Jim Broadbent, Robert Loggia and Richard Harris...
(1997)- based on the novel Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Danish author Peter HøegPeter HøegPeter Høeg is a Danish writer of fiction. He received a Master of Arts in Literature from the University of Copenhagen in 1984.-Early life:Høeg was born in Copenhagen, Denmark...
.
- based on the novel Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Danish author Peter Høeg
- Les MisérablesLes Misérables (1998 film)Les Misérables is a 1998 film adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel of the same name, directed by Bille August. It stars Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, and Claire Danes....
(1998)- based on the novel of the same nameLes MisérablesLes Misérables , translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century...
by French author Victor HugoVictor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
.
- based on the novel of the same name
- En sang for Martin (2001, A Song for Martin)
- Return to SenderReturn to Sender (film)Return to Sender is a 2004 film written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and directed by Bille August. It is also known under the title Convicted.The film stars Aidan Quinn and Connie Nielsen....
(2005) - Goodbye BafanaGoodbye BafanaGoodbye Bafana, also released under the name The Color of Freedom, is a 2007 drama film, about the relationship between Nelson Mandela and James Gregory , his censor officer and prison guard, based on Gregory's book Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend.Bafana means 'boys'...
(2007)- won the Cinema for PeaceCinema for PeaceThe Cinema for Peace initiative aims to raise awareness for the social relevance of films and to make active use of the influence of movies and documentaries on the perception and resolution of global social, political and humanitarian challenges of our time...
2007 Best Director Award
- won the Cinema for Peace
- The Passion of MarieThe Passion of MarieThe Passion of Marie is an upcoming Danish film directed by Bille August, starring Birgitte Hjort Sørensen and Søren Sætter-Lassen. Its original Danish title is Balladen om Marie, which means "The ballad of Marie"...
(2012)
External links
- 1997 interview with Bille August about Smilla's Sense of Snow