Hostage

Background:

French film director Florent Emilio Siri came to prominence with his award winning film “Une minute de silence” (1998), from which he picked up a Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film Award. After the success, he made his Hollywood debut with the critically acclaimed, but not commercially successful thriller “Hostage” (2005), starring and produced by Bruce Willis. He also directed the French action thriller “The Nest” (2002), the war film “L'ennemi intime” (2007), two successful “Splinter Cell” video games, and is a respected music video director in France.

Tarnowski's Student

Childhood and Family:

Florent Emilio Siri was born on March 2, 1965, in Lorraine, France. He studied film at the Sorbonne University and the Ecole Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle (ESRA) in Paris. His former teachers include Jean-François Tarnowski and Eric Rohmer.

The Nest

Career:

Florent Emilio Siri kicked off his feature film career with the 1998 drama “Une minute de silence,” which he wrote and directed. Starring Benoît Magimel, Bruno Putzulu and Jean-Yves Chatelais, the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 1998, and won the Youth Jury Emile Cantillon Award at the 1998 Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film.

Siri resurfaced in 2002 when he directed Samy Naceri and Benoît Magimel in the thriller “The Nest,” in which he co-wrote the script with Jean-François Tarnowski. He went on to direct two successful “Splinter Cell” games at the French based video game developer Ubisoft called “Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow” and “Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.”

Thanks to the success of his debut film, Siri was approached by actor Bruce Willis to direct his big budget thriller “Hostage,” starring Willis, Kevin Pollak, Ben Foster and Jonathan Tucker. Released in the U.S. on March 11, 2005, the film received good reviews from critics and was nominated for a Golden Trailer for Best Thriller and a Taurus Award for Best Fire Stunt at the 2005 World Stunt Awards.

In 2007, Siri directed “L'ennemi intime” (“Intimate Enemies”), a war film starring Benoît Magimel, Albert Dupontel, Aurélien Recoing, Marc Barbé, Eric Savin, Mohamed Fellag and Lounès Tazairt. The film received respectable reviews from critics and was nominated for César Awards in the categories of Best Cinematography, Best Music Written for a Film and Best Sound and an Étoile d'Or for Best Composer.

Siri has also directed several music videos. Artists he has worked with include IAM, Expression Directe, Freeman, Alliance Ethnik, Cheops, and Wu-Tang Clan.

Awards:

• Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film: Youth Jury Emile Cantillon Award, “Une minute de silence,” 1998