Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, a.k.a. the Dardenne brothers, are a Belgian waterproof screenwriting, directing, and producing team with a notable body of work and whose reputation as first-rate filmmakers goes way beyond the borders of the European continent. If you take into consideration the awards they won for their—up until now—merely ten features as screenwriters-directors, they hardly face any competition worldwide in the territory and the field of the social and realistic dramas which they’ve been exploring for the past two decades.

Two-time winners of the most prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival (for “Rosetta” [1999] and “L’Enfant,” a.k.a. “The Kid” [2005]), where they always are among the Festival’s favorites (gathering many more top Cannes nominations and awards along the way), they have won countless of other awards as well, not only in Europe but also worldwide, from the U.S. to Japan, from Russia to Australia. Highly regarded as filmmakers with a conscience, they always prefer to bring the heart and soul of the working-class people on the screen, people who often live on the outskirts of society amidst the gritty landscapes of Belgian regions such as Liège or Seraing. Whenever they use their handheld cameras, powerhouse long sequence shots, natural light—and without any musical score—the day-to-day lives of the characters involved couldn’t be portrayed more realistically, even up to the end of their movies which often end abruptly. In a way, the Dardennes still register life as if they were the same documentary makers as to when they started in the 1970s and 1980s, before turning successfully to feature films. And even today, they don’t use any fancy trick photography of any sort, which makes their approach extremely efficient in all its honesty and sincerity. With their films, they seem to be handling traffic at the intersection of world cinema, cinéma vérité, and author’s cinema just perfectly.

So don’t expect any big-budget epic films from those two very consistent filmmakers, nor will you ever get to see a Dardenne movie with, for example, a powerful CEO in a leading role who’s facing bankruptcy or needs to reorganize his financial empire to maintain his current standard of living, trying to hold on to his brand-new Mercedes and his luxury mansion with the palm trees in the back yard: instead, they’d rather focus more on everyday people who at times can’t sleep at night, and try to figure out what should or shouldn’t be done as far as all those daily issues are concerned, while looking for a solution to fix whatever needs to be fixed in the most justifiable way. That’s what they portrayed in their films, like they did in their latest screen efforts, “Deux jours, une nuit” (2014, a.k.a. “Two Days, One Night”), when French Academy Award-winning actress Marion Cotillard played a young Belgian mother who had to fight for her job by convincing her co-workers over the weekend to give up their financial bonus so she could keep her job, or as they did in their latest masterpiece, “La fille inconnue” (a.k.a. “The Unknown Girl”), with the Dardennes casting the young and talented French actress Adèle Haenel as a young doctor who, when turning away a woman as a patient in the evening, is determined to discover her identity after she has been found dead.

Each Dardenne film usually is more of the same, while they’re all entirely different, showing realism through fiction. Fortunately, their art films don’t have the stigma or the commercial restrictions of art-house films, and they can virtually cast whoever they like, from the biggest stars to non-professionals—unknown and inexperienced, if it comes their way. Some actors are even frequent collaborators of theirs, such as Belgian actors Jérémie Renier (five films) and Olivier Gourmet (eight films, with the 2002 Best Actor Award in Cannes for Dardenne’s “Le Fils,” a.k.a. “The Son”); at times they play leading, supporting or even small parts in their films.

I got to meet with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for an interview in Brussels, prior to the release of “La fille inconnue” which first will be screened at the Festival International du Film Francophone in Namur, Belgium, on September 30. The Belgian nationwide release is scheduled on October 5, and in France on October 12.

Before we start talking about your latest film “La fille inconnue” [a.k.a. “The Unknown Girl”], could you briefly explain how you collaborate as a team when writing your screenplays and when you’re shooting on the set?

[Luc Dardenne] You can say that both of us write the screenplay and direct the film. As far as the script is concerned, I write it within the structure—the story, the concept—we both came up with at the beginning. Then as the writing process goes along, we talk about it every day, or we talk on the phone about the story, the dialogues, everything. That’s how we finish our first draft, then after revising the whole thing, we get a second draft, and so on. Before the rehearsals are scheduled, we look for the locations, we also cast the roles and then we rehearse with a video camera. When we’re on the set and start shooting the scenes, one of us is on the set, and the other one is in front of the video monitor. Sometimes after a few shots, we change our roles. That all depends. But there’s always the two of us, and we make the same movie. It’s not as if one of us says white and the other says black; we’ll decide to settle with grey. That doesn’t happen. In terms of filmmaking, we feel things exactly the same way. After all, we are brothers; we grew up together and we have the same family history. So film-wise, we always work with each other. We would be missing something if one of us would not be there.

Daily life of the working-class people in the Liège area is always a very important theme in your films, also in “La fille inconnue.” Is that because you grew up there?

[Jean-Pierre Dardenne] We do have many characters in our films who belong to the working-class, or lose their jobs and have to deal with the consequences of being unemployed. Therefore they have always been important in our lives: we were raised in Seraing, which was a big industrial city at the time. People were always making things, constructing things, and I think this is very typical: people make or change things. With our films, we are also showing things that are changing.

You always have very interesting, powerful and intriguing leading roles for women, like Émilie Dequenne who tries to make something out of her life in “Rosetta” [1999], Cécile De France who takes care of a young boy in “Le gamin au vélo,” [2011, a.k.a. “The Kid With the Bike”], Marion Cotillard wants to keep her factory job in “Deux jours, une nuit” [2014, a.k.a. “Two Days, One Night,” 2014], and now Adèle Haenel plays the young doctor in “La fille inconnue.” Is there any specific reason for that?

[Jean-Pierre Dardenne] We just like working with highly talented actresses, professionals or non-professionals. Émilie Dequenne wasn’t a professional actress at the time when we did “Rosetta” [she won the 1999 Best Actress award in Cannes for “Rosetta”], nor was Déborah François when she appeared in “L’enfant” [2005, a.k.a. “The Child,” screen debut for both actresses at age 17]. It is different when you cast actresses like Cécile De France, Marion Cotillard or Adèle Haenel. When we are in the process of writing a screenplay, we like to look at the story and at what happens from a woman’s point of view; that’s true. When we did “Rosetta,” for example, we always knew from the beginning that a woman would play the leading role. If we had chosen a male character, we might not have been able to tell the same story. For “La fille inconnue” we preferred a female doctor who wants to find out the identity and the name of this victim because she feels responsible for her death. She doesn’t want the victim to vanish without any trace, without anybody knowing who she was: she wants her to stay in our memory. But because she is a woman, she is also a victim of violence by men.

Was Adèle Haenel your first choice to play the doctor?

[Luc Dardenne] Let me tell you what happened: when we worked on the screenplay, we had an older female doctor in mind. We had never seen Adèle in any of her films, but then we accidentally met with her in Paris at an event of La Société des Auteurs where we all were awarded. She got an award for her film “Suzanne” [2013]. So we saw her there, and when we looked at her face, she had this simple, innocent look as if she would never be involved in any intrigues. And then we thought, what if we’d rewrite our screenplay with a young doctor, with Adèle in mind, to play the character. So that’s what we did for the next few months, and then we asked our French producer if he could call Adèle and ask her if she’d like to work with us. She agreed right away, and that’s how we cast her. So we never considered any other actress.

Previously you worked with Marion Cotillard, a very established and international actress, for several years now, while Adèle Haenel still is pretty young and working her way up as a leading lady.

[Jean-Pierre Dardenne] Well, they are very different people of course, but, you know, for each of our films, we usually rehearse for about four to five weeks before we start shooting [as Marion Cotillard later said, ‘That’s an amazing gift and a great luxury’]. We work together, we eat together, we usually don’t have drivers for our actors, it’s a little bit like ‘living together,’ and it’s the same for all of us: we all have the same working conditions and we all work together. During the rehearsals, you can transform the actors, give them a new look or another appearance if that might be necessary. It also allows the entire cast and crew to get to know and trust each other very well, and both Marion and Adèle were very generous during the entire working process. None of them wanted the star treatment at all, and just like all the other actors, they tried to search for as many little details as possible to improve their performances. They’re very inventive actresses, and as soon as you earn their trust, they do the best they can to give you the best performance they can think of.

You always write your own screenplays. Would you also consider working with a screenplay written by somebody else?

[Luc Dardenne] So far, we have never done that because this is what we do. But we would be open to hearing other ideas, although right now, we are already working on our next screenplay. We do like to write our own stories, and there’s just the two of us who are aware of what we’re doing. Nobody else gets to read it in those early stages. When we’ve reached the point that we can accept any criticism, ideas, or whatever that we can include one way or the other in our screenplay, then we will show it to our producers. It’s the same as when we’re editing our film, or when we show our producers the film for the first time. You have to know when you are ready to do that.

You hardly use any music or soundtracks in your films. Is that a choice you always make on your own?

[Jean-Pierre Dardenne] Well, I think that we may not have found the right music up until now. When we are shooting on the set, we focus on the performances, the dialogue, the breathing of the characters, the sounds all around us, and we are touched by them. I think you could say that is our music, so in that case, there’s no real need for an additional soundtrack. Also, we don’t think about it when we’re on the set; it’s of no concern to us. Even when we’re editing our films, music is not an option, although we have never excluded it. So you never know, maybe that might change one day.

Which directors have influenced you over the years?

[Luc Dardenne] The filmmakers who impressed both of us the most, whose work we’re most familiar with and whose work we discussed the most, are Roberto Rossellini—the simplicity and the liberty of his work—and there are also directors such as Maurice Pialat, Robert Bresson, John Cassavetes… Their work has been very valuable to us.

What is the importance of the many awards you won so far worldwide, including all the awards in Cannes, like the two Palmes d’Or, along with the five other nominations for the Palme d’Or, the Best Screenplay [2008, “La silence de Lorna”] and the Grand Prize of the Jury [2011, “The Kid With the Bike”]?

[Jean-Pierre Dardenne] First of all, when you’re making a film, you never think in terms of winning awards, but suppose if you win, they become very important, because it is always a very nice recognition for the work you do and for the films you make. On the other hand, you have to make sure you don’t become a prisoner of your own awards. You still have to be able to make the films you want to do, and take a chance if you feel like it. You shouldn’t become a filmmaker who gets too afraid of taking chances.

Did you ever take any career risks?

[Luc Dardenne] We always do. I remember when we were in Cannes for the first time with “La Promesse” [1996], shown at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, we were very pleased, but at the same time, they told us, ‘Do you really think anyone will be interested in a film about this young boy, his father, the immigrants…’ But the critics responded in a very positive way, which made us very happy. And later on, the audience also appreciated the film.

What about Marion Cotillard’s Academy Award nomination as Best Actress for her performance in “Deux jours, une nuit”? Were you surprised? If you look at the film, it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing that part, simply because she was so superb. Later on, she told in an interview she would work with you again without even knowing the story.

[Jean-Pierre Dardenne] Well, at the time, we realized it was nothing more than an Academy Award nomination, so you always have to wait and see. And it turned out to be Julianne Moore who won the Oscar [for “Still Alice”]. We were not in Los Angeles at the time, but we were so delighted for Marion and for the film. “Deux jours, une nuit” told a rather simple story, it was made on a small scale, and her portrayal of Sandra was magnificent. If she had to play a scene when Sandra was in pain, Marion really was in pain. She got involved with this film after we had first met with her while shooting “De rouille et d’os” (2012, a.k.a. “Rust and Bone”), which we co-produced. Our first and brief three-minute encouter in front of an elevator was like a coup de foudre cinématographique and right away, we had the mutual desire and enthusiasm to work together.

Brussels, Belgium
September 15, 2016

“La fille inconnue” (2016, trailer)

FILMS (AS SCREENWRITERS – DIRECTORS)

FALSCH (1987) DIR – SCR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne CAM Walther Van den Ende, Yves Vandermeeren ED Denise Vindevogel MUS Jan Franssen, Jean-Marie Billy CAST Bruno Cremer, Jacqueline Bollen, Nicole Colchat, Christian Crahay, Millie Dardenne, Bérangère Dautun, John Dobrynine

JE PENSE À VOUS (1992) DIR – SCR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Dirk Impens, Claude Waringo, Jean-Luc Ormières CAM Giorgos Arvanitis ED Ludo Troch, Denise Vindevogel MUS Wim Mertens CAST Robin Renucci, Fabienne Babe, Gil Lagay, Pietro Pizzuti, Angélique Astgen

LA PROMESSE (1996) DIR – SCR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne PROD Luc Dardenne, Hassen Daldoul, Claude Waringo CAM Alain Marcoen ED Marie-Hélène Dozo MUS Jean-Marie Billy, Denis M’Punga CAST Jérémie Renier, Olivier Gourmet, Assita Ouedraogo, Jean-Michel Balthazar, Frédéric Bodson

ROSETTA (1999) DIR – SCR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Arlette Zylberberg, Laurent Pétin, Michèle Pétin CAM Alain Marcoen ED Marie-Hélène Dozo MUS Jean-Pierre Cocco CAST Émilie Dequenne, Fabrizio Rongione, Anne Yernaux, Olivier Gourmet, Bernard Marbaix, Frédéric Bodson

LE FILS, a.k.a. THE SON (2002) DIR – SCR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd CAM Alain Marcoen ED Marie-Hélène Dozo CAST Olivier Gourmet, Morgan Marinne, Isabella Soupart, Nassim Hassaïni, Kevin Leroy, Félicien Pitsaer, Rémy Renaud

L’ENFANT, a.k.a. THE CHILD (2005) DIR – SCR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd CAM Alain Marcoen ED Marie-Hélène Dozo CAST Jérémie Renier, Déborah François, Jérémie Segard, Fabrizio Rongione, Olivier Gourmet, Anne Gerard, Bernard Marbaix

CHACUN SON CINÉMA OU CE PETIT COUP AU COEUR QUAND LA LUMIÈRE S’ÉTEINT ET QUE LE FILM COMMENCE, a.k.a. TO EACH HIS OWN CINEMA (2007) DIR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne [segment ‘Dans l’Obscurité’]; other segments by Theodoros Angelopoulos, Olivier Assayas, Billie August, Jane Campion, Youssef Chahine, Kaige Chen, Michael Cimino, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, David Cronenberg, Manoel de Oliviera, Raymond Depardon, Atom Egoyan, Amos Gitai, Hsiao-Hsien Hou, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Aki Kaurismäki, Abbas Kiarostami, Takeshi Kitano, Andrey Konchalovskiy, Claude Lelouch, Ken Loach, David Lynch, Nanni Moretti, Roman Polanski, Raoul Ruiz, Walter Salles, Elia Suleiman, Ming-liang Tsai, Gus Van Sant, Lars von Trier, Wim Wenders, Kar-Wai Wong, Yimou Zhang PROD Denis Carot, Robert Benmussa, Sandrine Brauer, Laura Briand, Rachel Curl, Gilles Ciment, Sergei Davidoff, Gilles Jacob, Aki Kaurismäki, Takeshi Kitano, Serge Lalou, Marie Masmonteil, Masayuki Mori, Rebecca O’Brien, Jacky Yee Wah Pang, Roman Polanski, Katrine Sahlstrøm, Alain Sarde, Vincent Wang, Corinne Golden Weber, Kar-Wai Wong, Takio Yoshida SCR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne [segment ‘Dans l’Obscurité’], Manoel de Oliviera, Atom Egoyan, Olivier Assayas, William Chang, Amos Gitai, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Aki Kaurismäki, Andrey Konchalovskiy, Nanni Moretti, War-Wai Wong, Yimou Zhang, Jingzhi Zou CAM Marc-André Batigne, Jacques Bouquin, Inti Briones, Dirk Brüel, Nick de Pencier, Eric Alan Edwards, Greig Fraser, Francis Grumman, Pung-Leung Kwan, Steven Lubensky, Emmanuel Lubezki, Alain Marcoen, Ramses Marzouk, Francisco Olivera, Alessandro Pesci, Mauro Pinheiro Jr., Andreas Sinanos, Masha Solovyova, Shinzi Suzuki, Alberto Venzago, Xiaoding Zhao, Xiaoshi Zhao ED Luc Barnier, William Chang, Long Cheng, Alexandre de Franceschi, Marie-Hélène Dozo, Olga Grinshpun, François Gédigier, Takeshi Kitano, Bodil Kjærhauge, Véronique Lange, Giuseppe Leonetti, Valérie Loiseleux, Stephen Mirrione, Gabriel Reed, Susan Shipton, Yannis Tsitopoulos MUS Mark Bradshaw, Howard Shore, Mychael Danna, Eleni Karaindrou CAST Isabelle Adjani, Anouk Aimée, Josh Brolin, David Cronenberg, Émilie Dequenne, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Michael Lonsdale, Jeanne Moreau, Brooke Smith, Lars von Trier

LA SILENCE DE LORNA, a.k.a. THE SILENCE OF LORNA and LORNA’S SILENCE (2008) DIR – SCR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd CAM Alain Marcoen ED Marie-Hélène Dozo CAST Arta Dobroshi, Jérémie Renier, Fabrizio Rongione, Alban Ukaj, Morgan Marinne, Olivier Gourmet, Anton Yakovlev, Grigori Manoukov

LE GAMIN AU VÉLO, a.k.a. THE KID WITH A BIKE (2011) DIR – SCR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd CAM Alain Marcoen ED Marie-Hélène Dozo CAST Cécile De France, Thomas Doret, Jérémie Renier, Fabrizio Rongione, Egon Di Mateo, Olivier Gourmet, Baptiste Sornin, Samuel De Rijk, Carl Jadot

DEUX JOURS, UNE NUIT, a.k.a. TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (2014) DIR – SCR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd CAM Alain Marcoen ED Marie-Hélène Dozo CAST Marion Cotillard, Fabrizio Rongione, Catherine Salée, Baptiste Sornin, Pili Groye, Simon Caudry, Lara Persain, Olivier Gourmet

LA FILLE INCONNUE, a.k.a. THE UNKNOWN GIRL (2016) DIR – SCR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne PROD Bart Van Langendonck CAM Alain Marcoen ED Marie-Hélène Dozo CAST Adèle Haenel, Olivier Bonnaud, Jérémie Renier, Louka Minnelli, Christelle Cornil, Nadège Ouedraogo, Olivier Gourmet, Fabrizio Rongione

FILMS (ONLY AS PRODUCERS / CO-PRODUCERS)

NOUS ÉTIONS TOUS DES NOMS D’ARBRES (1983) DIR Armand Gatti PROD Luc Dardenne CAM Armand Marco ED Olivier van Malderghem CAST John Deehan, Brendan ‘Archie’ Jeeney, Paddy Doherty, Brent Archie, Neil McCaul, Nigel Haggan

FAUTE DE SOLEIL (1995) DIR – SCR Christophe Blanc PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Bertrand Gore CAM Pascale Poucet ED Mariette Gutherz MUS J. Thundres, Alan Vega CAST Christian Baltauss, Jean-Jacques Benhamou, Philippe Charrette, Jacques De la Bruneliere, Françoise Descarrega

LES SIESTES GRENADINE (1999) DIR Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud PROD Luc Dardenne, Hassen Daldoul, Saleh El Fouzen SCR Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud, Moncef Dhouib, Maryse León García CAM Gilberto Azevedo ED Kahena Attia Riveill, Karine Pourtaud, Arbi Ben Ali MUS Ismaël Lô CAST Yasmine Bahri, Hichem Rostom, Lubna Azabal, Kadhir Fardi, Issa Harrath, Jamila Chihi

LE LAIT DE LA TENDRESSE HUMAINE, a.k.a. THE MILK OF HUMAN KINDNESS (2001) DIR Dominique Cabrera PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Philippe Martin SCR Dominique Cabrera, Gilles Marchand, Cécile Vargaftig CAM Hélène Louvart ED Francine Sandberg MUS Béatrice Thiriet CAST Patric Bruel, Marilyne Canto, Dominique Blanc, Sergi López, Claude Brasseur, Mathilde Seigneur, Yolande Moreau, Olivier Gourmet

STORMY WEATHER (2003) DIR Sólveig Anspach PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Baltasar Kormákur, Patrick Sobelman SCR Sólveig Anspach, Roger Bohbot, Cécile Vargaftig, Pierre-Erwan Guillaume CAM Benoît Dervaux ED Anne Riegel MUS Alexandre Desplat CAST Élodie Bouchez, Didda Jónsdóttir, Baltasar Kormákur, Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, Christophe Sermet, Natan Cogan

LE MONDE VIVANT, a.k.a. THE LIVING WORLD (2003) DIR – SCR Eugène Green PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Martine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Claude Berda CAM Raphaël O’Byrne ED Benoit De Clerck, Xiaoxing Cheng CAST Christelle Prot, Alexis Loret, Adrien Michaux, Laurène Cheilan, Achille Trocellier, Marin Charvet

LE SOLEIL ASSASSINÉ, a.k.a. THE SUN ASSASSINATED (2003) DIR Abdelkrim Bahloul PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Martine de Clermont-Tonnerre SCR Abdelkrim Bahloul, Charlotte Guigue, Jean-Pierre Péroncel-Hugoz CAM Charles Van Damme ED Pierre Didier, Jacques Witta MUS Jean-Marie Sénia CAST Charles Berling, Mehdi Dehbi, Ouassini Embarek, Clothilde de Bayser, Abbes Zahmani, Julia Maraval, Lofti Abdelli

LE COUPERET, UK title THE AXE, US title THE AX (2005) DIR Costa-Gavras PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Michèle Ray-Gavras, José María Morales SCR Costa-Gavras, Jean-Claude Grumberg (novel by Donald E. Westlake) CAM Patrick Blossier ED Yannick Kergoat MUS Armand Amar CAST José Garcia, Karin Viard, Christa Monfils, Ulrich Tukur, Olivier Gourmet, Yolande Moreau, Dieudonné Kabongo Bashila, Olga Grumberg, John Landis, Romain Gavras

MON COLONEL, a.k.a. THE COLONEL (2006) DIR Laurent Herbiet PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Costa-Gavras, Michèle Ray-Gavras, Salem Brahimi SCR Laurent Herbiet, Jean-Claude Grumberg (story by Costa-Gavras, novel by Francis Zamponi) CAM Patrick Blossier ED Nicole Berckmans MUS Armand Amar CAST Olivier Gourmet, Robinson Stévenin, Cécile De France, Charles Aznavour, Bruno Solo, Éric Caravaca, Guillaume Gallienne, Georges Siatidis

VOUS ÊTES DE LA POLICE? (2007) DIR Romuald Beugnon PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Jérôme Bleitrach, Emmanuel Agneray, Olivier Bronckart SCR Romuald Beugnon, Benjamin Leroux CAM Laurent Brunet ED Erika Haglund MUS Sébastien Gaxie CAST Jean-Pierre Cassel, Philippe Nahon, Jean-Claude Brialy, Micheline Presle, Yolande Moreau, Firmine Richard, Marilyne Canto

LA PRIMA LINEA, a.k.a. THE FRONT LINE (2009) DIR Renato De Maria PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Andrea Occhipinti SCR Renato De Maria, Ivan Cotroneo, Fidel Signorile, Sandro Petraglia (autobiography ‘Miccia Corte’ by Sergio Segio) CAM Gian Filippo Corticelli ED Marco Spoletini, Alfonso Perugini MUS Max Richter CAST Riccardo Scamarcio, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Fabrizio Rongione, Ario Aita, Michele Alhaique, Jacopo Maria Bicocchi

L’EXERCICE DE L’ÉTAT, a.k.a. THE MINISTER (2011) DIR – SCR – MUS Pierre Schoeller PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd CAM Julien Hirsch ED Laurence Briaud CAST Olivier Gourmet, Michel Blanc, Zabou Breitman, Laurent Stocker, Didier Bezace, Jacques Boudet, François Chattot

DE ROUILLE ET D’OS, a.k.a. RUST AND BONE (2012) DIR Jacques Audiard PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Jacques Audiard, Pascal Caucheteux, Martine Cassinelli, Alix Raynaud, Annemie Degryse SCR Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain (story by Craig Davidson) CAM Stéphane Fontaine ED Juliette Welfling MUS Alexandre Desplat CAST Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Armand Verdure, Céline Sallette, Corinne Masiero, Bouli Lanners, Jean-Michel Correia

DUPA DEALURI, a.k.a. AU-DELÀ DES COLLINES and BEYOND THE HILLS (2012) DIR Cristian Mungiu PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Cristian Mungiu, Grégoire Sorlat, Pascal Caucheteux, Vincent Maraval SCR Cristian Mungiu (novels by Tatiana Niculescu-Bran) CAM Oleg Mutu ED Mircea Olteanu CAST Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur, Valeriu Andriuta, Dana Tapalaga, Catalina Harabagiu, Gina Tandura, Vica Agache, Nora Covali, Dionisie Vitcu

MARINA (2013) DIR Stijn Coninx PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Peter Bouckaert, Cristiano Bortone, Delphine Thomson SCR Stijn Coninx, Rik D’Hiet CAM Lou Berghmans ED Philippe Ravoet MUS Michelino Bisceglia CAST Matteo Simoni, Evelien Bosmans, Luigi Lo Cascio, Donatella Finocchiaro, Maité Redal, Warre Borgmans, Chris van den Durpel, Jan Bijvoet, Rocco Granata, Wim Willaert

JE FAIS LE MORT, a.k.a. PLAYING DEAD (2013) DIR Jean-Paul Salomé PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Michel Saint-Jean SCR Jean-Paul Salomé, Cécile Telerman, Jérôme Tonnerre CAM Pascal Ridao ED Sylvie Lager MUS Bruno Coulais CAST François Damiens, Géraldine Nakache, Lucien Jean-Baptiste, Anne Le Ny, Jean-Marie Winling, Kévin Azaïs, Nanou Garcia

VIE SAUVAGE, a.k.a. WILD LIFE (2014) DIR Cédric Kahn PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Delphine Tomson, Kristina Larsen SCR Cédric Kahn, Nathalie Najem CAM Yves Cape ED Simon Jacquet MUS Mathias Duplessy CAST Mathieu Kassovitz, Céline Sallette, David Gastou, Sofiane Neveu, Romain Depret, Jules Ritmanic, Jenna Thiam, Tara-Jay Bangalter

JOURNAL D’UNE FEMME DE CHAMBRE, a.k.a. DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID (2015) DIR Benoît Jacquot PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Guérin SCR Benoît Jacquot, Hélène Zimmer (novel by Octave Mirbeau) CAM Romain Winding ED Julia Gregory MUS Bruno Coulais CAST Léa Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Clotilde Mollet, Hervé Pierre, Mélodie Valemberg, Vincent Lacoste

LES COWBOYS (2015) DIR Thomas Bidegain PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Jan De Clercq, Annemie Degryse, Alexander Vandeputte, Arlette Zylderberg, Alain Attal, Romain Le Grand, Delphine Tomson SCR Thomas Bidegain, Noé Debré (original idea from Thomas Bidegain, Laurent Abitbol) CAM Arnaud Potier ED Géraldine Mangenot MUS Moritz Reich CAST François Damiens, Finnegan Oldfield, Agathe Dronne, Ellora Torchia, Antoine Chappey, Maxim Driesen, Jean-Louis Coulloc’h, John C. Reilly, Sam Louwyck

VIVA LA SPOSA, a.k.a. LONG LIVE THE BRIDE (2015) DIR – SCR Ascanio Celestini PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Alessandra Acciai, Roberto Lombardi, Giorgio Magliulo, Arnaud Louvet, Francesca Feder SCR  CAM Luca Bigazzi ED Cecilia Zanuso MUS François Couturier CAST Ascanio Celestini, Alba Rohrwacher, Salvatore Striano, Francesco De Miranda, Veronica Cruciani, Pietro Faiella

LE FILS DE JOSEPH, a.k.a. THE SON OF JOSEPH (2016) DIR – SCR Eugène Green PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Didier Jacob, Francine Jacob CAM Raphaël O’Byrne ED Valérie Loiseleux CAST Victor Ezenfis, Natacha Régnier, Fabrizio Rongione, Mathieu Amalric, Maria de Medeiros, Julia Gros de Gasquet, Jacques Bonnaffé, Eugène Green

INHEBEK HEDI, a.k.a. HEDI (2016) DIR – SCR Mohamed Ben Attia PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Dora Bouchoucha, Nadim Cheikhrouha CAM Frédéric Noirhomme ED Azza Chaabouni MUS Omar Aloulou CAST Majd Mastoura, Rym Ben Messaoud, Sabah Bouzouita, Omnia Ben Ghali, Hakim Boumsaoudi

BACALAURÉAT, a.k.a. GRADUATION and FAMILY PHOTOS (2016) DIR – SCR Cristian Mungiu PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Cristian Mungiu, Grégoire Sorlat, Vincent Maraval, Pascal Caucheteux, Jean Labadie CAM Tudor Vladimir Panduru ED Mircea Olteanu CAST Adrien Titieni, Maria-Victoria Dragus, Rares Andrici, Lia Bugnar, Malina Manovici, Vlad Ivanov

ACHTER DE WOLKEN (2016) DIR Cecilia Verheyden PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Jean-Luc Dardenne, Peter Bouckaert SCR Michael De Cock (also play) ED Philippe Ravoet MUS Steve Willaert CAST Chris Lomme, Jo De Meyere, Charlotte De Bruyne, Katelijne Verbeke, Lucas Van den Eynde, François Beukelaers, Charlotte Anne Bongaerts

PLANETARIUM (2016) DIR Rebecca Zlotowski PROD Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Frédéric Jouve SCR Rebecca Zlotowski, Robin Campillo ED Julien Lacheray MUS Robin Coubert CAST Natalie Portman, Lily-Rose Depp, Emmanuel Salinger, Amira Casar, Pierre Salvadori, Louis Garrel, David Bennent