New Blood

François Busnel

President of the New Blood Jury
Journalist, Producer & Director

François Busnel studied history and philosophy while pitching freelance stories to various publications. Hired by RFI, he produced reports in Africa and then the Middle East, before hosting the daily literature show “Envie de lire” on BFM Radio. In 1999, the journalist made his first foray into television by co-hosting “Les Écrans du savoir” on Channel Five, then joined the weekly “L’Express” a year later as deputy editor-in-chief for the “Books” service. He was also given a segment that he held until 2008 on the literary program “Vol de nuit” on TF1, presented by Patrick Poivre d’Arvor. In the meantime, he became editorial director of the magazine “Lire,” a position he held from 2004 to 2015.

In fall 2008, François Busnel began hosting the literary program “La Grande Librairie” on France 5. After a dozen years of loyal service, he passed the baton to Augustin Trapenard in 2022. In fall 2010, he also hosted “Le Grand Entretien” on France Inter, a one-on-one radio interview with a writer, artist or scientist. The following year, he wrote and produced a series of seven documentary films, “François Busnel’s Travel Diaries,” renewed in 2013 and 2014.

More recently, François Busnel co-founded with Éric Fottorino the quarterly review “America,” to respond to the election of Donald Trump and decipher the United States from 2017 to 2021 through the prism of American authors. In 2022, François Busnel directed his first film with Adrien Roland, Only the Earth is Eternal, a feature documentary tracing the life of American writer Jim Harrison. He is currently working on his first feature film.

Céleste Brunnquell

Actress

Céleste Brunnquell began doing theater at age 11. In 2018, she was discovered in an acting class by casting director Elsa Pharaon to play the lead role in Sarah Suco’s first film, The Dazzled (2019), which earned her a César nomination for Most Promising Actress in 2020. While still in high school, she was again recruited by Elsa Pharaon to act in the series In Treatment, broadcast in 2021 on Arte. With her high school diploma under her belt, Céleste Brunnquell began her higher education studies while continuing to work in the occasional film.

She appeared in Sébastien Marnier’s The Origin of Evil (2022), Jeanne Aslan and Paul Saintillan’s Fifi (2023), and Erwan le Duc’s No Love Lost (2023), for which she was again nominated for Most Promising Actress. This year, she will appear in Antoine Raimbault’s Une Affaire de Principe, Céline Rouzet’s For Night Will Come and Jessica Palud’s Maria. Céleste Brunnquell will soon make her stage debut.

Stéphane Foenkinos

Director & screenwriter

Alongside his brother, novelist David Foenkinos, Stéphane Foenkinos directed three feature films: Delicacy (2011), nominated for a César for Best First Film, Jealous (2017), with Karin Viard in the lead role, who was nominated for a César for Best Actress, and Fantasies (2021). Also a casting director for over 70 films (from Godard to Woody Allen, Valérie Lemercier and François Ozon, as well as the James Bond and Harry Potter franchises…), he also wrote several TV series (Hard, Fais pas ci, fais pas ça…) and sketches for Sylvie Joly and Thomas Poitevin.

In theater, he created along with Arthur Nauzyciel the “Improbable” evenings, but also adapted and directed “Noire” and “The Assignation,” two texts written and performed by Tania de Montaigne. Together, they conceived the documentary Sale Race, broadcast on France 5 in 2023, and the immersive augmented reality experience “Noire/Colored,” inaugurated that same year at the Centre Pompidou, recipient of numerous awards. With education dear to his heart, Stéphane Foenkinos teaches regularly at schools, universities, and prisons.

Pablo Pauly

Actor

Having trained at the Cours Florent free class, the National Superior Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, and then the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, Pablo Pauly appeared on screen in Nils Tavernier’s 2014 The Finishers. He then appeared in Emmanuelle Bercot’s 2016 150 Milligrams, but the actor truly made his name in 2017 when he took on the lead role in Grand Corps Malade and Mehdi Idir’s film, Patients. His performance earned him a nomination the following year for the César for Best Male Newcomer.

Since then, he’s done one film role after the next, shooting with such directors as Anne Fontaine in 2019’s White as Snow, Jérôme Bonnell in 2021’s The Love Letter, and Wes Anderson with an appearance in 2021’s The French Dispatch. In recent years, Pablo Pauly also acted in Nicolas Boukrief’s 2019 adaptation of the Pierre Lemaitre novel Three Days and a Life, in Nicolas Pleskof’s 2021 comedy Murder Party, and in Florent Gouelou’s Three Nights a Week in 2022. After the July release of Laetitia Masson’s Summer Frost, he will next appear in Stéphane Demoustier’s Borgo and will rejoin Jérôme Bonnell behind the camera for À la joie.

Linh-Dan Pham

Actress

Linh-Dan Pham made her first foray into film with Régis Wargnier’s Indochine (1991), in which she played Camille, the adopted daughter of Catherine Deneuve’s character, and which earned her a César nomination for Most Promising Actress. After this auspicious debut, she disappeared from the big screen for 10 years to focus on her education. She then moved to New York to take classes at the Actors Studio at the Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute. Returning to France, she resumed her acting career and appeared in Frédéric Balekdijian’s Gamblers (2005), then Jacques Audiard’s The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005). Her performance in that film noir, in which she played opposite Romain Duris, earned her a Most Promising Actress César, 13 years after her first nomination for that same award.

Linh-Dan Pham then rejoined Régis Wargnier for Have Mercy on Us All (2007) and performed in Marc Caro’s Dante 01 (2008), Diastème’s Sunny Spells (2008) and Géraldine Nakache and Hervé Mimran’s All That Glitters (2010). She has also appeared in, among others, Jaco Van Dormael’s Mr. Nobody (2009), Maïwenn’s All About Actresses, and Abdel Raouf Dafri’s The Breitner Commando (2020). On the series front, the actress has played a number of roles in Pigalle la nuit, Mythomaniac, Don’t Worry About the Kids and Or de Lui. More recently, she appeared in Justin Chon’s American film Blue Bayou (2021) and in Guillaume Canet’s adventure film Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom (2023).