Elias Djemil is a director, designer, photographer and documentary filmmaker with multiple identities. A polyglot of Russian-Algerian origin, his background shows a versatility and a capacity for adaptation, as evidenced so far by a body of internationally awarded works. Whether in the context of an experimental dance short film on a ballet dancer during the Holocaust (Franciszka) or in the context of a documentary on contemporary Algerian music (The Rhythm Of Time), he loves to explore, paint and pay tribute to human creativity in all its facets.

Not limited to any register and any technique, his artistic reflection takes shape above all through the universal medium of the image: “The image, of any sort, frozen in time or in motion, invented or inspired by reality, always brings us back not only to ourselves, but above all to others.”

After completing film studies, he started as a producer in 2008 when he founded his own production company, Octo Film, dedicated to produce the new generation’s directors. With experience in managing projects on a wide variety of short films and atypical television programs, Elias Djemil became involved in his community as president of the Festival de Cinéma de la Ville de Québec from the moment of its creation, President of independent filmmaking cooperative Spira and several other organizations.

Quickly, the need of expressing a more personal vision has emerged. In 2012, he focuses on his activities as a director and photographer. Drawn between his love of popular cinema and abstract art, his approach was refined by a dozen short films and a dozen music videos awarded internationally as director and designer. In 2015, with his film Sarah, the theme of movement takes a prominent place in his work and dance becomes the place of choice for his exploration.

In parallel with a prolific career in photography, where he collaborates with Ex Machina, MNBAQ and the National Ballet of Canada, among others, Elias Djemil is also interested in the development of new narrative possibilities in the field of video games. To this end, he works with various companies including the prestigious Ubisoft.

http://www.eliasdjemil.com