Emma Benestan

A French-Alger­ian direc­tor, Emma Ben­es­tan was born in the south of France. After study­ing edit­ing at La Fémis, she direct­ed sev­er­al short films: Sum­mer of Sarah in 2014, Taste of Love, short­list­ed for the 2018 Best Short Film César, and Un monde sans bêtes (2018). She con­cur­rent­ly took part in the edit­ing of Abdel­latif Kechiche’s Blue is the Warmest Col­or and Mek­toub, My Love and co-wrote sev­er­al oth­er short films, includ­ing Adri­an Moyse Dullin’s The Right Words, pre­sent­ed in com­pe­ti­tion at the 2021 Cannes Film Fes­ti­val and nom­i­nat­ed for a 2023 César. In 2021, she direct­ed her first film, Frag­ile, select­ed by over 70 inter­na­tion­al film fes­ti­vals. Hav­ing also co-writ­ten Jean-Bap­tiste Durand’s debut fea­ture Junk­yard Dog, win­ner of the 2024 Best First Film César, Emma Ben­es­tan com­plet­ed her sec­ond fea­ture film, the fan­ta­sy west­ern Ani­male, pre­sent­ed as the clos­ing night film of this year’s Cannes Inter­na­tion­al Crit­ics’ Week.