SKAFANDER I LEPTIR
/ Le Scaphandre et le Papillon
/ Diving Bell and the Butterfly

France
2007. / 112’ / 35mm

Directed by :
Julian Schnabel

Written by:
Ronal Harwood, prema autobiografiji Jean Dominique Bauby

Producer:
Kathleen Kenedy, John Kilik

Cast:
Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie Josee Croze

Awards:
Cannes, best director
Golden Globes, best foreign film, best director
BAFTA, best adapted screenplay
Oscar nominations, best director, best adapted screenplay

Distribution:
AUDIO VISUAL ENTERPRISES SA
3 Parnonos street
151 25 Maroussi
Athens – Greece
Tel. + 30 210 8092 000

Jean-Dominique Bauby is the editor of Elle, a French fashion magazine. He is leading a glamorous, interesting life. In the age of 43 he suffers a stroke which leaves him in a state known as “locked-in syndrome.” His mind is clear but his body is completely paralyzed. He can hear, but cannot speak; he can see but cannot describe what he is seeing. With the help of a therapist, he starts to communicate with the world using his left eye.

A true story about the strength of the human mind and indestructible spirit; with the help of Anne Consigny Jean-Dominique writes a bestseller, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, based on which Julian Schnabel made his third highly appraised film. With 200 thousand blinks, Jean-Dominique writes his memoirs; confessions of an amazing talent trapped in a paralyzed body.

Julian Schnabel is an American director and artist. Born in 1951 in New York, he studied in Houston University in Texas. During the 80s he became a well established artist. Today, his works can be found in numerous galleries all over the world including MOMA in New York and the Pompidou Center in Paris. He directed three feature films. His first Basquiat (1996) is a biography of Jean Michael Basquiat. International success comes with the Before Night Falls in 2000. The film is based on an autobiography of Cuban poet Reinald Arenas. With his last film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, he won the best director award last year in Cannes, Independent Spirit Award and Golden Globe. This year he was nominated for an Oscar in the best director category. He lives in New York.