Mabrouk El Mechri Biography

MARITAL STATUS
Professions Director , Screenwriter , Actor more
Nationality French
Birth September 18, 1976

BIOGRAPHY
Director born in Versailles, Mabrouk El Mechri began by taking the path of short films before committing to feature films. From 1998 to 2003, he was the screenwriter and director of three short films: Mounir et Anita , Génération cutter and Concours de circumstances . His debut was noticed by Gaumont, who asked him to produce his first film, Virgil (2005). Surrounded by Jalil Lespert , Jean-Pierre Cassel and Léa Drucker , he offers the public a touching story, about a son who makes his imprisoned father dream, by telling him every week in the visiting room about his exploits in the ring… even though he hasn’t fought for three years.

After this first critically acclaimed attempt, El Mechri heard about an atypical comedy project which involved one of the heroes of his adolescence: Jean-Claude Van Damme . The director agrees to shoot JCVD ​​(2008), an unclassifiable film, with and about Jean-Claude Van Damme , where the actor’s life collides with reality. Far from wanting to be locked into a genre (according to the director, Virgil and JCVD ​​are described by some as “guy films” ), El Mechri dives into a world of women for television. He is the director of eight episodes of Maison broth , a series set in a luxury Parisian brothel in the early 1870s.

In 2012, he returned to cinema with Sans Issue , an action production with a muscular cast ( Henry Cavill , Bruce Willis ) where secret agents and conspiracies intersect. With this film including Hollywood stars – let’s also mention Sigourney Weaver – but shot in Spain, the director joins the long list of French talents who are making a name for themselves in the United States.