Luc DardenneBirth Place: Awirs, Belgium Date of Birth: March 10, 1954 Heritage: Belgian Contact Luc Dardenne | 
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Rosetta Background: “Filmmakers in Belgium are seen as arts and crafts makers. It is a small country. There is not really a film industry there at all.” Luc Dardenne Belgian film director, producer and writer Luc Dardenne is a contemporary filmmaker in Belgian and one of the most reputable filmmakers in the world thanks to his fruitful collaborations with his older brother, Jean-Pierre Dardenne (born on April 21, 1951). Dardenne were shot to international stardom with “La Promesse/The Promise” (1996), an art-house hit that received extensive awards on the film festival circuit, including the Best Foreign Film prize from the National Society of Film Critics. With their next film, “Rosetta” (1999), the duo set a record by becoming the first Belgian filmmakers ever to win the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes. The film also brought them Cannes' Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention award, a National Society of Film Critics Award and an Independent Spirit nomination. After “Le fils/The Son” (2002), which nabbed a Cannes Film Festival Award, Luc and his brother released “L'Enfant/The Child” (2005), which picked up three César nominations and a Toronto Film Critics Association Award. The pair also made a number of documentaries for Belgian television through Dérives Productions, a production company they formed in 1975. The Dardenne brothers' newest film, “The Silence of Lorna,” was released in 2008.
Childhood and Family: Luc Dardenne was born on March 10, 1954, in Liège, Belgium. Along with his older brother, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, he was raised in a middle class family in Seraing until his brother was sent to Brussels to study acting with playwright Armand Gatti. Whenever Luc had time, he often visited his brother in Brussels and was invited by Gatti to join his acting troupe. At the time, Luc was still in school. In the early 1970s, Luc received his degree in philosophy but it was his experience with Gotti that inspired Luc to go into film and videos with his brother. The brothers then spent several months in their homeland working in a cement factory to gain money for video equipment. In 1990, Luc returned to Brussels and took a teaching job at the Université Libre where he taught aesthetics and screen writing.
Career: Luc Dardenne wanted to try his hand at filmmaking after spending time with playwright Armand Gatti. Along with his older brother, Jean-Pierre, he took a job at a cement factory and saved money to purchase video equipment. In 1975, the brothers established a production company called Dérives. The company produced numerous documentaries for Belgian television with topics ranging from the Nazi opposition in the southern Walloon region of Belgium (1978's “Le Chant du Rossignol”) to history on Poland (1981's “Leçons d'une Université Volante”). The brothers ventured into fiction in 1987 with “Falsch,” a based-on-novel film they wrote and directed together. They did the same duties for the sophomore effort “Je Pense à Vous” (1992) in addition to serving as producers. Although both films earned some good reviews at the Cannes and Berlin Film Festivals, they failed to acquire a wide release. By this time, the younger Dardenne had moved to Brussels and worked at the Université Libre. Distance, however, did not prevent the two from working together and in 1994 they set up a new company called Les Films du Fleuve, which would become their home in producing fiction films. Thanks to their persistence, Luc and Jean-Pierre eventually scored huge success with the release of “La Promesse/The Promise” in 1996. A drama about a man and his son who rent apartments to illegal immigrants, the acclaimed film became a festival favorite and won many awards, including the Best Foreign Film Awards from the National Society of Film Critics and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. The brothers further cemented their reputation as international filmmakers with the film “Rosetta” (1999), which starred first time actress Émilie Dequenne as a young woman living with her alcohol dependent mother in a trailer park. In addition to bringing Dequenne a Best Actress honor and winning the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival, the drama created history in Belgian for being the first film ever to pick up Cannes' esteemed Palme d’Or. It was also named Best Foreign Language Film at the 1998 National Society of Film Critics, won a Joseph Plateau Award for Best Belgian Director, and received a nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards. Despite their international triumph, Luc and his brother chose to avoid high cost and star molds and continued creating their low budget projects in Liège. In 2002, they launched “Le fils/The Son,” a complex film about revenge and salvation starring Olivier Gourmet as a carpenter who adopts a newly released inmate named Francis (played by Morgan Marinne) as an apprentice. Also an art-house hit, the drama netted a Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention and a Best Actor honor at Cannes. It was also nominated for the Palme d’Or. Three years later, they resurfaced with “L’enfant/The Child” (2005), which again won the pair the Palme d’Or at Cannes, their second win since 1999's “Rosetta.” For their effort, the two shared César nominations for Best Director, Best Film and Best Writing-Original and a Toronto Film Critics Association for Best Director, among other prizes. In between “The Son” and “The Child,” Luc also served as a producer on such projects as “Romances de terre et d'eau” (2002), a documentary co-directed by his brother and Andrea Santana, Sólveig Anspach's “Stormy Weather” (2003), Abdelkrim Bahloul's “The Assassinated Sun” (2003) and Costa-Gavras' “The Axe” (2005). He continued to lend his producing talents for the Laurent Herbiet directed “The Colonel” (2006) and “Vous êtes de la police,” a movie by director Romuald Beugnon that was screened at the Montréal World Film Festival in September 2007. Also in 2007, Luc returned to the director's chair to helm “Dans l'Obscurité,” a segment of “To Each His Cinema.” He shared the directorial credit with his brother. In 2008, Luc and his brother released a movie called “The Silence of Lorna.”
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