Yorgos Lanthimos

Biography

Yorgos Lanthimos was born in Pangrati, Athens. He was raised mainly by his mother. His father, Antonis Lanthimos, was a professional basketball player who played for Pagrati B.C. and the Greece national basketball team, and was also a basketball instructor at the Moraitis School. Having graduated from the Moraitis School, Lanthimos went on to study Business Administration and played for a period in Pagrati B.C. He eventually dropped out and went on to study Directing for Film and Television at the Hellenic Cinema and Television School Stavrakos (HCTSS) in Athens. He has directed a number of dance videos in collaboration with Greek choreographers, in addition to TV commercials, music videos, short films and theater plays. Kinetta, his first feature film, played at Toronto and Berlin film festivals to critical acclaim. His second feature Dogtooth, won the "Un Certain Regard prize" at the 2009 Cannes film festival, followed by numerous awards at festivals worldwide. It was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award (Oscar) in 2011. Alps won the "Osella for best screenplay" at the 2011 Venice film festival and Best Film at the Sydney film festival in 2012. His first English language film The Lobster was presented in Competition at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. Moreover, "The Lobster" was nominated for the (Oscar about the) Best Original Screenplay by the Academy and won Best Screenplay and Best Costume Design at the European Film Awards of 2015. His fifth project "The Killing of a Sacred Deer" was also presented in Competition at the 70th Cannes Film Festival where it won the award for the best Screenplay. Lanthimos's last film "The Favorite" is a historical Drama about the British Queen Anne.