# Bertrand Mandico

Bertrand Mandico (born 21 March 1971) is a French film director and screenwriter. His first feature film, The Wild Boys (2017), was named the top film of 2018 by Cahiers du cinéma. He has also written and directed After Blue (2021), and She Is Conann (2023). His films are often interested in the body and gender fluidity and incorporate photos and written elements.

## Early life and career

Born in 1971 in Toulouse, Mandico graduated from the film directing program at the Gobelins school in Paris.
Mandico has directed short films, medium-length films, experimental essays, and feature films.
Mandico has an unusual working method. He prefers to create the audio for his films in post-production. Actors post-synchronize themselves, and the environmental sounds and music are layered on. However, he always shoots his images on color film, with no post-production images. Background projection and superimposition are done during the shoot.
He created the Incoherence Manifesto in 2012 with Icelandic filmmaker Katrín Ólafsdóttir. He states that:
   To be incoherent means to have faith in cinema, it means to have a romantic approach, unformatted, free, disturbed and dreamlike, cinegenic, an epic narration.
A group of young filmmakers including Yann Gonzalez, Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel have been influenced by the manifesto.
Mandico has commenced "20+1 Projections", a collaborative project with Romanian-American actress Elina Löwensohn, where they are to make 21 short films in 21 years. Though each film is meant to be a unique narrative and formal work, they are to revolve around the themes of aging and desire. As of 2018, they have shot 8 films and completed 6 of them.
He was named best director at the Vilnius International Film Festival in 2018 for The Wild Boys.
In 2021, he wrote and directed After Blue. In 2023, he wrote and directed She Is Conann. In 2024, he wrote and directed Dragon Dilatation.
His upcoming fifth feature film, Roma elastica, starring Marion Cotillard, begins filming in 2025.

## Filmography

Mandico has directed 40 short films, TV-commercials and musical films.

### Feature films

Mandico's feature films include:
| Year | English title | French title |
| 2017 | The Wild Boys | Les Garçons sauvages |
| 2021 | After Blue or After Blue (Dirty Paradise) | After Blue (Paradis sale) |
| 2023 | She Is Conann | Conann |
| 2024 | Dragon Dilatation | |

## Short films

| Year | English title | French title | Notes |
| 1997 | La Chanson du Jardinier Fou | La Chanson du Jardinier Fou | |
| 1999 | The Blue Cavalier | Le cavalier bleu | |
| 2000 | Monsieur Flupersu | Monsieur Flupersu | |
| 2002 | Osmose | Osmose | |
| 2002 | Chris Dangoisse : De droite | Chris Dangoisse : De droite | |
| 2002 | Chris Dangoisse : Ils dansent | Chris Dangoisse : Ils dansent | |
| 2003 | C’était le chien d’Eddy | C’était le chien d’Eddy | |
| 2004 | All You Have Seen Is True | Tout ce que vous avez vu est vrai | |
| 2006 | He Says He's Dead | Il dit qu'il est mort... | |
| 2007 | Mie l’enfant descend du songe | Mie l’enfant descend du songe | |
| 2007 | Essai 135 | Essai 135 | |
| 2009 | His Majesty Little Beard | Sa majesté petite barbe | |
| 2010 | The Life and Death of Henry Darger | Lif og daudi Henry Darger | |
| 2010 | Burlesque and Cold | Burlesque et froid | |
| 2011 | Boro in the Box | Boro in the Box | |
| 2012 | Living Still Life | La résurrection des natures mortes (Living Still Life) | |
| 2013 | Féminisme, rafale et politique | Féminisme, rafale et politique | |
| 2013 | Prehistoric Cabaret | Prehistoric Cabaret | |
| 2014 | S... Sa... Salam... Salammbô... | S... Sa... Salam... Salammbô... | |
| 2014 | Memories of a Boobs Flasher | Souvenirs d'un montreur de seins | |
| 2015 | Our Lady of Hormones | Notre-Dame des Hormones | |
| 2015 | Any Virgin Left Alive? | Y a-t-il une vierge encore vivante ? | |
| 2015 | Depressive Cop | Depressive Cop | |
| 2017 | Odile of the Valley | Odile dans la vallée | |
| 2018 | L’île aux robes | L’île aux robes | |
| 2018 | Apocalypse After | Ultra pulpe | Part of Ultra Rêve, a collection of three short films by Mandico, Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, and Yann Gonzalez. |
| 2018 | À rebours | À rebours | |
| 2019 | Niemand | Niemand | |
| 2019 | ExtaZus | ExtaZus | |
| 2020 | The Return of Tragedy | The Return of Tragedy | |
| 2021 | HUYSwoMANS | HUYSwoMANS | |
| 2022 | The Last Cartoon | The Last Cartoon | Part of L’émission a déjà commencé. |
| 2022 | J’ai tué Kate Bush | J’ai tué Kate Bush | Unused footage from the feature film After Blue. |
| 2023 | Rainer, A Vicious Dog in a Skull Valley | Rainer, A Vicious Dog in a Skull Valley | Part of L’émission a déjà commencé. |
| 2023 | We Barbarians | Nous les barbares | Part of L’émission a déjà commencé. |