“As a producer, you help the people you admire to realize their dreams.” The profession has fascinated film-buff François Kraus ever since he was 20. After a degree in film and audiovisual studies from the University of Paris VIII, he entered the FEMIS film and audiovisual institute’s Production department. A year after finishing his studies, he founded the company Les Films du Kiosque. When François Kraus was awarded the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation grant, he already had a long list of accomplishments: no less than 16 short films, 140 selections for various festivals, more than 30 awards and as many TV sales in France and abroad!

Achievements since winning the grant

With his company Les Films du Kiosque, founded in 1995, Kraus has produced 32 short subjects and seven feature-length films. In 2001, he produced Oui, mais…, the first feature-length film directed by Yves Lavandier, starring Emilie Duquenne and Gérard Jugnot.

In 2002, after producing some 30 short films (selected over 300 times for various festivals), the project for which he was awarded the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation grant took concrete shape under the title Une Affaire qui Roule (released on 1 January 2003), starring Denis Podalydès, Clovis Cornillac and Axelle Laffont.

In 2004, he produced François Favrat’s first feature-length film, Le Rôle de sa Vie, starring Agnès Jaoui and Karin Viard, and Thierry Klifa’s first feature, Une Vie à t’Attendre, with Nathalie Baye and Patrick Bruel. Both films had successful runs.

In 2006, François Kraus produced Maiwenn’s first feature-length film, Pardonnez-moi, released in theatres on 29 November 2006.