François Lunel

François Lunel lived in the south of France (Hyères, Toulon, Aix-en-Provence) until the age of 19 and obtained a baccalauréat A3 with a cinema option in 1989. He went on to pursue university studies (Bachelor’s degree) in cinema at Paris VIII and began making documentaries in 1992.

He went to Sarajevo in 1992 during the siege, where he made several documentaries and two fiction films : Jours tranquilles à Sarajevo, selected at Cannes in 2002, and La Promenade inopinée

In 2005, he directed a documentary on the life of American saxophonist Sonny Simmons (supported by CNC and SCAM’s “Brouillons d’un rêve” program), followed by Les Embarqués, which was purchased by France Télévision.

He wrote his first novel set in Brittany (KEREMMA, published by Riveneuve) and directed two feature films in 2007 and 2008 : L’Apparition de la Joconde, a fiction film starring Serge Riaboukine, Julie Gayet, and Grégoire Colin, and Chez Léon Coiffure, a documentary produced by Les Films d’Ici, released in theaters in April 2012.

In 2014, he filmed Dessine-moi un pays in Sarajevo, a film about post-war borders that continues to be shown and discussed in conferences across Europe. In 2016, he shot the feature film Quand la nuit noire, in Sarajevo and Jablanica. He is currently preparing a documentary in Bosnia, Le Saut de l’Ange, and a fiction film in France, Rochus. He also directs for the theatre.