Emmanuel Gras

Born in Cannes, France in 1976, Emmanuel Gras would later be honored at the famous film festival in his hometown at age 41 when his Makala was chosen as the first documentary in that program's history for its International Critics Week.Gras took a degree in history but then switched to studying cinematography at the Ecole Normale Superieure Louis Lumiere.Work at the French Cultural Center in Beirut, Lebanon led to his spending some time in the Middle East.After shooting a number of shorts and features for other directors, he began to write and film his own work, with a focus on issues of contemporary social concern.