Valérie Donzelli

Valérie Donzelli is a French writer, director and actress. She studied architecture before turning to acting, then moved behind the camera with her first feature, La Reine des pommes (2009).

Her film La Guerre Est Déclarée (2011), opened Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival. It won the Grand Prix at the Cabourg Film Festival and received 6 César nominations, including Best Film and Best Director. Marguerite & Julien competed for the Palme d’Or in 2015, and she wrote, directed and starred (as an architect) in Notre dame (2019). For Arte, she directed the series Nona et ses filles (2021), co-created with Clémence Madeleine-Perdrillat. The series won the French Critics’ Association award for Best Series.

L’Amour et les forêts (2023), starring Virginie Efira and Melvil Poupaud and adapted from Éric Reinhardt’s novel, premiered at Cannes. It earned her the 2024 César for Best Adaptation, shared with Audrey Diwan. As an actress, she has appeared in Bertrand Bonello’s Saint Laurent, Joachim Lafosse’s Les Chevaliers blancs and the French series Dix pour cent (Call My Agent!). Her latest film, À pied d’oeuvre, adapted from Franck Courtès’s book and starring Bastien Bouillon, won the Best Screenplay award in competition at the 2025 Venice Film Festival. It was released in France in February 2026.