Joan Chemla

After an initial stint in law and journalism, Joan Chemla wrote, produced, and directed her first short film Mauvaise Route in 2008. She later directed Dr Nazi, an adaptation from a Charles Bukowski short story (which won Canal+ award at the Clermont-Ferrand film festival) and L'homme à la cervelle d'or (The man with the golden brain), from a short story by Alphonse Daudet.

Her first feature named Si tu voyais son cœur (If you saw his heart), will be featured at the Toronto international film festival Platform competition in September 2017. Following this selection, Cameron Bailey, the TIFF artistic director, remarked that "Joan Chemla is someone who will have a long career as somebody who makes personal films. There’s an individual stamp here.”