YANN ARTHUS-BERTRAND: AN ACTIVIST WITH A VIEW
Born in 1946, Yann Arthus-Bertrand has always been interested in the animal world and areas of wilderness. He very quickly began to use a camera to make a record of his observations and he soon discovered his vocation: testifying through images. Yann Arthus-Bertrand became a press report photographer and, in 1991, he founded Altitude, the leading aerial photography agency in the world. He then focused his energies on a long-term series, studying the link between mankind and wild or tamed nature: The Earth from Above, Wild Animals, Horses, 365 Days?
As an activist who is convinced of the importance of sustainable development, his aerial photographs and accompanying texts request each and every person to take note that we are all personally responsible for the future of our Earth. This is why he created the association GoodPlanet in 2005. This association develops numerous projects whose shared objective is to inform people about the different aspects of sustainable development and to request each and every person to think beyond the development of our planet ? and to the future of its inhabitants.
After The earth from above, a documentary series lasting for several 1 hour episodes, initiated in 2007 and broadcast on France 2 in prime time, Yann Arthus-Bertrand began the filming of HOME, a cinema feature movie about the state of our planet and the challenges facing us to protect it. Its simultaneous worldwide release is scheduled for June 5th, 2009 ? World Environment Day.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand was a member of the Academy of Fine Arts of the Institute of France in 2006; he is a Knight of the Legion of Honour, an Officer of the Order of Agricultural Merit and an Officer of the National Order of Merit.
LUC BESSON: PRODUCER OF HOME, THE MOVIE
Luc Besson held several positions linked to the movie industry in both France and the United
States, before beginning his career as a producer and director in the early 1980s.
During his career to date, Luc Besson has directed ten or so feature movies, including Subway
(1985), The Big Blue (1988), Nikita (1990), Léon (1994), The Fifth Element (1997) ? for which
he was awarded a César for the best director in 1997, Joan of Arc (1999), Angel-A (2005) and
the animated movie Arthur and the Minimoys (2006). In May 2000, Luc Besson became the chairman of the jury at Cannes International Film Festival, making him the youngest person appointed to this office in the festival?s history.
Luc Besson has also directed several clips (notably for Mylène Farmer and Serge Gainsbourg) as
well as numerous advertising films for groups of international renown (L?Oréal, Chanel, Evian,
Estée Lauder, Orange, etc?). Since 1999, most of these have been made through the
intermediary of the company Dog Productions ? a wholly-owned subsidiary of EuropaCorp.
Before founding EuropaCorp, Luc Besson created two production companies: Les films du Loup
in 1981 with Pierre Jolivet and then Les Films du Dauphin in 1989.
Since 1999, Luc Besson has also been appointed producer of 17 EuropaCorp movies, eleven of
which had more than a million box office entries in France. Furthermore, amongst the movies
produced or jointly produced by EuropaCorp, Luc Besson was also the scriptwriter for 16
movies.
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