FERNANDO DE FRANCE

CURRICULUM . 

French-Spanish Filmmaker and Photographer

Cum Laude Graduate from The State University of New York (SUNY) with a Bachelor of Arts and Communications degree, Fernando de France beganhis professional career as a Director of short films, video clips and advertis- ing at WTZA TV in Kingston. After four years in the USA, he returned to Spain to continue developing his artistic career, having already premiered his first short film, The Corridor, 1987.

His endeavours in the field of advertising, in which he went straight to work, made it possible for him to acquire extensive experience as a director and filmmaker, where he became a palpable presence, a trailblazer for his originality and audacity when shooting scenes, being catalogued as “l'enfant terrible” with- in the advertising world; a world that has been an extremely important training ground for many filmmakers (there are many well-known directors that come from advertising, such as Stanley Kubrick, Ridley Scott and Alejandro González Iñárritu). He caught the attention of renowned production companies in Spain, working throughout his career for the most acclaimed in our country such as Quasar Films, Rodar & Rodar, Eddie Saeta (Production Company of Isabel Coixet), Pirámide, Tesauro, Idea Films. Interest in his work also grew abroad, enabling him to shoot films for production companies in countries like Italy, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Portugal, France and Mexico, countries where he ob- tained wide acclaim. He soon began to win awards, highlighting: a Bronze Lion for his work Blood Rain for PlayStation in the Cannes International Advertising Film Festival in 2009, a Gold Lion in the Cannes International Advertising Film Festival in 2000 for his work Urban Training for Nike, as well as recognition with one Gold Sun, two Silver Suns and the Special Jury Prize at the San Sebastian Advertising Festival.

Within the music industry, he directed video clips and documentaries for some of the most well-known artists in our country such as Rosario Flores, Ke- tama, Mártires del Compás, Jarabe de Palo, Amaral, and more recently, the group Morgan from Madrid. Featured among his awards are two Ondas Awards that he won for Depende, by Jarabe de Palo (1999), and Sabor, Sabor, for Rosario Flores (1997). At the Málaga Film Festival, he was awarded First Prize in 2008 in the Zonazine Category for his film co-written with Chico Ocaña about the group, Mártires del Compás, Ar meno un quejío [If only a lament], which also represen- ted Spain in the Screening at the Toulouse Cinespaña Film Festival; a fiction and documentary, musical and narrative piece, showing the versatility in the sty- les that the artist dominates, and how he likes to put them into dialogue obtai- ning curious results.

As a director of short and feature films, Fernando de France stands out for his originality and creativity. He dominates the technique and experimentation always present in each one of his films. He has also won awards in this 7th Art and is acclaimed in both in our country and abroad, highlighting his First Prize in 2009 in the Lisbon InShadow Festival for his piece El Último Pez [The Last Fish], his participation and recognition for his film Necesidades [Necessities] at the Sitges Fantasy Film Festival in 1997, the First Prize for Un trabajo limpio [A Clean Job] in the 10th Week of the Carabanchel Film Festival; and he was re- cently awarded Honourable Mention for Best Foreign Short Film in the Los Angeles Film Review 2015 for his latest work Historia de MI [Story of Me], also nominated at the Nice film Festival, and El inmigrante [The Immigrant] a short film that also won an Honourable Mention in the Humanitarian Award at the 2017 Best Shorts Competition.

Whilstdeveloping a successful career in the film, advertising and music industry, Fernando travels the world directing projects in numerous places whe- re, at the same time, he cultivates his great passion for Photography, always until now, in silence.His development and production process is at home, where his special personal work has virtually still not come to light. It has been seasoned and “simmering” over these years between negatives, film and various experiments. It is exquisite, interesting, curious and an adventure, unveiling after all this time the facet which has been hidden until now, of this sensitive, unconventional and independent artist. In 2018, Fernando de France began to be represented by the gallery About Art, and as a result of this collaboration, his work began to be exhibited to the public; fairs like Art Photo Barcelona, Frame – contemporary A Art Basel-, and Photo Fever Paris, are already some of the important venues that have hosted his works.

Amongst his latest projects is his inclusion in PHOTOESPAÑA Discoveries 2019. 

María Maquieira