Bille August


Bille August is a Danish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer of film and television. In a career spanning over four decades, he has been the recipient of numerous accolades, making him one of the most acclaimed contemporary Danish filmmakers.
August's 1987 film Pelle the Conqueror won the Palme d'Or, Academy Award and Golden Globe Award. He is one of only eight directors to win the Palme d'Or twice, winning the prestigious award again in 1992 for The Best Intentions, based on the autobiographical script by Ingmar Bergman.
His filmography includes The House of the Spirits, based on a novel by Isabel Allende; Smilla's Sense of Snow, also based on a popular novel' Les Misérables, Night Train to Lisbon, Silent Heart, The Chinese Widow, and A Fortunate Man. He has received five Robert Awards and three Bodil Awards for Best Danish Film. He is also a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog.

Life and career

August was born on November 9, 1948 in Brede, Denmark. After attending local schools, he graduated from the Foto- og Dokumentarskolan in Stockholm, Sweden, and later from the National Film School of Denmark. He began his career as a cinematographer. He made his feature directorial debut in 1978 with In My Life, which won the Bodil Award for Best Danish Film.
After decades of writing, directing and producing notable films in Denmark, on 23 September 2011, Bille August announced that he had opened a studio in Hangzhou, China and taken a position as Tianpeng Media's Art Director, in order to produce Chinese films for Tianpeng Media over the next few years. Tianpeng Media is a new media company established in 2010. The company produced two films, The Women Knight of Mirror and The Years of Qi Xiao Fu, to be released later in 2011. Bille is the first foreign director to be hired by the Chinese film company. In 2011 August also accepted the invitation from the Hangzhou government to serve as a "culture consultant" for the city.
His film Night Train to Lisbon premiered out of competition at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival. He had planned to direct a Gianni Versace biopic with Antonio Banderas as Versace, but this project was cancelled.

Personal life

August has been married four times, and had four children by two of his wives.
He was first married to Annie Munksgård Lauritzen. His second wife was Masja Dessau. Together they had two children, Anders Frithiof August and Adam August. They have both become screenwriters. Thirdly he was married to Swedish actress Pernilla August from 1991 to 1997. Together they had daughters Asta Kamma August and Alba Adéle August. In 2012 he married his current wife, Sara-Marie Maltha.
In addition, August fathered four other children by two women outside marriage.

Filmography

Film

As cinematographer

Television