If you’re a movie buff, you must have heard about Denis Villeneuve— a Canada-born Hollywood film director and writer who has given critically and commercially acclaimed movies.
A career that began with writing and directing short movies, Denis had his first recognition when he won the ‘Radio-Canada’s youth film competition ‘La Course Europe-Asie’ in 1990.
His first movie was ‘La Course Destination Monde’ (1990). His first feature film as a director, ‘August 32nd on Earth’ (1998) premiered at the ‘1998 Cannes Film Festival’, and was also the Canadian entry as the ‘Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards’.
His list of successful films also include ‘Maelström’ (2000), ‘Polytechnique’ (2009), ‘Incendies’ (2010), ‘Prisoners’ (2013), ‘Enemy’ (2014), ‘Sicario’ (2015), ‘Arrival’ (2016) and ‘Blade Runner 2049’ (2017).
‘Maelström’, ‘Polytechnique’, ‘Enemy’ and ‘Incendies’ were the winners of ‘Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Award for Best Achievement in Direction’ while ‘Arrival’ was nominated for 8 ‘Academy Awards’ (including Best Picture and Best Director). ‘Incendies’ presented Canada at the ‘83rd Academy Awards’ under ‘Best Foreign Film’ category.
His unsuccessful films are ‘REW-FFWD’ (1994), ‘Cosmos’ (1996), ‘Nest Floor’ (2008) etc. His top grossing movie is ‘Arrival’.