Stijn Coninx
Stijn Coninx (born February 21, 1957 in Neerpelt , Belgium ) is a Flemish film director . He was best known in Europe through the films Priest of the Disenfranchised with Jan Decleir and The Hour of Light with Joachim Król .
Life
From 1975 Coninx attended the film school in Brussels, which he graduated with honors in 1980. In the following years, he worked as an assistant director with leading filmmakers in Flaming, including Paul Collet , Patrick Lebon , Jaco Van Dormael and Dominique Deruddere . In 1987 he first directed. The comedy Hector with the comedian Urbanus was a great success in Belgium and the Netherlands, so that three years later Coninx brought another Urbanus comedy with Koko Flanel to the cinemas.
In 1991 Coninx made the historical film Priest of the Disenfranchised, based on the story of the priest Pieter Daens , who successfully campaigned for the improvement of the living and working conditions of child laborers in weaving factories in Belgium in the 19th century. The film first brought him together with cameraman Walther van den Ende , whose work on Toto the hero had earned him a lot of praise. The film, shot bilingually in French and Flemish, was the most successful Belgian film ever and was nominated for an Oscar in 1993. When the nomination was announced, King Albert II made Coninx a baron.
After five years, Coninx was working on a new film. The project of a love story in the Arctic between a student (Francesca Vanthielen) and a trapper ( Joachim Król ) was filmed under harsh climatic conditions. The film was shown in European cinemas in 1998 under the title The Hour of Light and received awards at several Nordic festivals. While Coninx was waiting for his next project to be financed, he took on television work, for example staging for the comedy series Het Peulengaleis and Nefast voor de feestvreugde .
In 2003 came Weiter als der Mond (alternative title: The Sea of Silence ) in the cinemas. In yet another genre, this time Coninx approached the perspective of a nine-year-old girl whose family threatens to fall apart before her first communion because her father drinks. The film won all the main prizes at the Lucas Children's Film Festival in Frankfurt and was subsequently also released in German cinemas. In 2019 he received the Belgian Mira d'Or Lifetime Achievement Film Award .
Coninx is married with three children and lives near Brussels.
Filmography (selection)
- 1987: Hector
- 1990: Koko Flanel
- 1992: Priest of the Disenfranchised (Daens)
- 1998: When the Light (When the Light Comes)
- 2003: Beyond the Moon (Verder dan de maan)
- 2009: Sœur Sourire - The Singing Nun (Sœur Sourire)
- 2013: Marina
Web links
- Stijn Coninx in the Internet Movie Database (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Coninx, Stijn |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Belgian director |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 21, 1957 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Neerpelt , Belgium |