Bille August
{{short description|Danish film director and screenwriter}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Bille August
| honorific_suffix = R.
| image = Bille August (cropped).jpg
| caption = August in 2008
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|11|9|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Brede, Denmark
| occupation = Film director
| years_active = 1978–present
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Annie Munksgaard Lauritzen|1970|1978|end=div}}
- {{marriage|Masja Dessau|1978|1990|end=div}}
- {{marriage|Pernilla August|1991|1997|end=div}}
- {{marriage|Sara-Marie Maltha|2012}}
}}
| children = 8, including Anders, Alba and Asta
}}
Bille August {{small|R.}} (born 9 November 1948) is a Danish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer of film and television.
August's 1987 film Pelle the Conqueror won the {{Lang|fr|Palme d'Or|italic=no}}, Academy Award and Golden Globe Award. He is one of only ten directors to win the {{Lang|fr|Palme d'Or|italic=no}} twice, winning the award again in 1992 for The Best Intentions, based on the autobiographical script by Ingmar Bergman.
His filmography includes The House of the Spirits, based on the novel by Isabel Allende; Smilla's Sense of Snow; Les Misérables; Night Train to Lisbon, Silent Heart, The Chinese Widow and A Fortunate Man. He has received five Robert Awards (including Best Film and Best Director) and three Bodil Awards for Best Danish Film. He is also a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog.
Life and career
August was born on 9 November 1948, in Brede, Denmark.{{cite book|title=501 Movie Directors|editor-first=Steven Jay|editor-last=Schneider|publisher=Cassell Illustrated|location=London|year=2007|page=519|isbn=9781844035731|oclc=1347156402}} After attending local schools, he graduated from the Foto- och Dokumentärskolan in Stockholm, Sweden, and later from the National Film School of Denmark. He began his career as a cinematographer. He made his feature directorial debut in 1978 with In My Life, which won the Bodil Award for Best Danish Film.
He collaborated twice with then wife Pernilla August under George Lucas on The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones in The Perils of Cupid and Tales of Innocence. Pernilla would later star in the first two films of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and appeared in an episode of The Clone Wars television series to reprise her role from the films.
After decades of writing, directing and producing notable films in Denmark, on 23 September 2011, Bille August announced that he had opened a studio in Hangzhou, China and taken a position as Tianpeng Media's Art Director, in order to produce Chinese films for Tianpeng Media over the next few years. Tianpeng Media is a new media company established in 2010. The company produced two films, The Women Knight of Mirror (竞雄女侠秋瑾) and The Years of Qi Xiao Fu (七小福之燃情岁月), to be released later in 2011. He is the first foreign director to be hired by the Chinese film company. In 2011, August also accepted the invitation from the Hangzhou government to serve as a "culture consultant" for the city.{{cite web | url = http://asiapacificarts.usc.edu/article@apa?academy_award-winning_director_bille_august_opens_his_studio_in_hangzhou_17467.aspx | title = Academy Award-winning director Bille August opens his studio in Hangzhou | publisher = Asia Pacific arts | date = 10 April 2011 | access-date = 2 November 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130826042544/http://asiapacificarts.usc.edu/article@apa?academy_award-winning_director_bille_august_opens_his_studio_in_hangzhou_17467.aspx | archive-date = 26 August 2013 | url-status = dead }}
His film Night Train to Lisbon (2013) premiered out of competition at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.{{Cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/presse/pressemitteilungen/alle/Alle-Detail_16724.html |title=Berlinale 2013: Competition Now Complete |access-date=25 January 2013 |work=berlinale |archive-date=10 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130410152015/https://www.berlinale.de/en/presse/pressemitteilungen/alle/Alle-Detail_16724.html |url-status=dead }} He had planned to direct a Gianni Versace biopic with Antonio Banderas as Versace, but this project was cancelled.{{Cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bille-august-antonio-banderas-cancel-versace-project-1020993/|title=Antonio Banderas Cancels 'Versace' Project|access-date=13 July 2017|work=The Hollywood Reporter}}{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2016/film/news/bille-august-set-to-direct-versace-biopic-with-antonio-banderas-1201938081/|title=Bille August Set to Direct Versace Biopic With Antonio Banderas|access-date=10 December 2016|magazine=Variety}} In August 2021, it was announced that August would direct a feature film adaptation of Karen Blixen's novel Ehrengard, which is being produced by Netflix and SF Studios.{{cite web|title=Bille August To Direct Karen Blixen's Ehrengard For Netflix & SF Studios |url=https://deadline.com/2021/08/bille-august-direct-karen-blixens-ehrengard-netflix-sf-studios-1234824685/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |last=Grater |first=Tom |date=31 August 2021|access-date=31 August 2021}}
Personal life
August has been married four times and has a total of eight children with five different women.
He was first married to Annie Munksgård Lauritzen; they had a son Anders Frithiof August. His second wife was Masja Dessau with whom he had a son; both sons have become screenwriters. His third marriage to Swedish actress Pernilla August was from 1991 to 1997. Together they had two daughters, including Alba Adèle August; he also became the stepfather of her daughter from her first marriage to Swedish novelist and screenwriter Klas Östergren. In 2012, he married his fourth wife, actress Sara-Marie Maltha after 10 years together; they have three children.
He has a daughter from a previous relationship.source [https://www.seoghoer.dk/nyheder/bille-fylder-70-har-otte-boern-med-fem-kvinder]
Filmography
=Film=
Director
| class = "wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Director ! Writer ! Notes |
|---|
| 1978
|{{yes}} |{{yes}} | |
| 1983
|{{yes}} |{{yes}} | |
| rowspan="2" |1984
|{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| Twist and Shout
|{{yes}} |{{yes}} | |
| 1987
|{{yes}} |{{yes}} | |
| 1992
|{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 1993
|{{yes}} |{{yes}} | |
| 1996
|{{yes}} |{{yes}} | |
| 1997
|{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 1998
|{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 2001
|{{yes}} |{{yes}} |Also producer |
| 2004
|{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| rowspan="2" |2007
|{{yes}} |{{yes}} | |
| To Each His Own Cinema
|{{yes}} |{{no}} |Segment "The Last Dating Show" |
| 2012
|{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 2013
|{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 2014
|{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| rowspan="2" |2017
|{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 55 Steps
|{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 2018
|{{yes}} |{{yes}} | |
| 2021
|{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 2022
|The Kiss |{{yes}} |{{yes}} | |
| 2023
|Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction |{{yes}} |{{no}} | [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27727074/reference/ IMDb] |
Director of photography
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Director ! Notes |
|---|
| rowspan="2" |1977
|Christiania |Flemming Colstrup |Documentary film |
| Hemåt i natten
|Jon Lindström | |
| 1978
| |
| rowspan="3" |1980
|Love | |
| Mördare! Mördare!
|Jon Lindström | |
| Tomas: A Child You Cannot Reach
|Documentary film |
| 1981
| |
| 1982
|Sova räv | |
= Television =
Miniseries
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title !Director !Writer |
|---|
| 1978
|Et par dage med Magnus |{{yes}} |{{no}} |
| 2024
|{{yes}} |{{no}} |
TV movies
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title !Director !Writer |
|---|
| 1980
|Verden er så stor, så stor |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |
| 1982
|Maj |{{yes}} |{{no}} |
| 2003
|Detaljer |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |
TV series
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Notes |
|---|
| 1993
|The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles |2 episodes |
Awards and nominations
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070809013413/http://desires.com/3.2/Performance/Reviews/Docs/august.html 1997 interview with Bille August] about Smilla's Sense of Snow
- {{IMDb name|806|Bille August}}
- {{Sfdb name}}
- {{Danish National Filmography name|1192}}
{{Bille August}}
{{AcademyAwardBestForeignLanguageFilm 1981–2000}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:August, Bille}}
Category:People from Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality
Category:Danish film directors
Category:Danish male screenwriters
Category:Danish cinematographers
Category:Directors of Palme d'Or winners
Category:Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners