Christophe Cotteret is a French film and television director and writer born on October 12, 1971. He is best known for his work on the award-winning films La Haine (1995) and Un prophète (2009).
Cotteret was born in Paris and grew up in the city's suburbs. He studied at the Lycée Henri IV and the University of Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne, where he earned a degree in literature and philosophy. After university, he worked as a documentary filmmaker for the French public television channel France 3, producing films about youth culture and the environment.
In 1995, Cotteret made his feature film debut with La Haine, a powerful tale of life in the Parisian suburbs. The film won the Prix de Jury at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and earned Cotteret an international reputation as an auteur.
In 2005, Cotteret wrote and directed the horror-thriller L'Enfer, starring Emmanuelle Béart and Gérard Depardieu. The film was a box office hit and earned Cotteret a César Award nomination for Best Director.
In 2009, Cotteret directed his most acclaimed film to date, Un prophète. The film tells the story of a young Arab man who is sent to prison and rises to power within the criminal underworld. The film was a critical and commercial success, earning Cotteret a Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Cotteret has since directed several films, including Polisse (2011), Love at First Fight (2014), and Just to Be Sure (2017). He has also worked in television, directing episodes of the French series Les Revenants and Les Mystères de l'amour.
Cotteret continues to direct films in France and abroad, and is considered one of the most talented French filmmakers of his generation. His work has been praised for its unflinching realism and its thoughtful exploration of the human condition.
