Mathieu Vadepied
Mathieu Vadepied is a French screenwriter, director and cinematographer. He has an education in photography and worked several years as an assistant to fashion photographers and then with Raymond Depardon. In the 90's, he made music videos and worked behind the film camera as a cinematographer for feature films and commercials. He was nominated at the César Award for Best Photography for READ MY LIPS by Jacques Audiard and UNTOUCHABLE by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache. He also made documentaries and the two short live-acted films LE SOUFFLE (2003) and A THOUSAND SUNS (Mille Soleils, 2005). His feature film debut is the drama LEARN BY HEART (La Vie en grand, 2015), which was chosen for Closing Film of the Critics' Week at Cannes Film Festival.

Director’s statement
“Initially, it is a personal story, which involves my complex and conflictual relationship with my school. […] On the other hand, it is also about my strong connection with Africa. When I was young, my grandfather was a senator and mayor of Evron in Mayenne, a city twinned with a town in the Ivory Coast. Then my father became mayor of Meru in Oise who was twinned with a Mali village. Suddenly, I had the opportunity to meet Africans with whom I felt a strong friendship bond. Furthermore, I grew up with reggae and I forged a consciousness that stemmed from the history of slavery and colonialism: therefore little by little the lifestyle of people coming sub-Saharan Africa seemed to me in need of more and more answers. And at 18, I set off for a sort journey of initiation by myself to meet a country for which I felt attraction. I subsequently worked on films in Africa, especially with IdrissaOuedraogo. The meeting with Bruno Nahon and my collaboration with Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache made the singular alchemy of LIFE GRAND possible”.