BIO

Yann les Jours was born in Lyon, France, and lives and works in Berlin, Germany.

He studied Art History and English Literature at Lyon II Lumière University and later attended the Documentary Summer School at the Locarno Film Festival and the Ji.hlava IDFF Academy.
His documentary work—spanning film, music videos, and performance—is often described as poetic, abstract, and experimental.

His debut short film, Repetitions, had its world premiere in 2022 at the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen.

In 2023–24, Yann created a series of three short experimental documentaries:
Mars which premiered at Short Waves Poznań in the RAW Competition (2023).
kindergarten which premiered at 20minmax Ingolstadt ISFF (2023), winner Best International Short at L'Alternativa Film Festival, CCCB Barcelona, in 2024.
Sonnet which premiered at ShorTS IFF in Trieste, Italy (June 2025) and won the awards for Best Director and Best Sound Design at the Indy Film Library Experimental Showcase 2025, Amsterdam, NL.

2025 also saw the premieres of Fireworks (Les Instants Vidéo, Marseille), The Hedgehog (Riga IFF), My name is Renata, she says (Côté Court, Pantin), and Happiness (FLIGHT, Genoa).

In 2026, 4 of his films have entered the catalogue of the Film-Makers' Cooperative: kindergarten, Mars, Repetitions and Fireworks.

When not working on projects for screens, Yann les Jours extends his cinema work in the sphere of live performance: in 2024 he created Europa (on empathy) at OHM club curated by KOOKOO, Berlin. In 2025 he created a sound peformance "Close your eyes" at VIDEOAKTION#6 by curated by attaque(e)r le visible, Berlin.

DOWNLOAD PORTFOLIO

FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR

2025 CLOSE YOUR EYES / 30' / Performance
2025 HAPPINESS / Writer & Director / 7′/ Documentary
2024 FIREWORKS / 22′/ Documentary
2024 SONNET / 2′/ Documentary
2024 MY NAME IS RENATA, SHE SAYS / 27′ / Documentary
2024 THE HEDGEHOG / 19′ / Documentary
2024 E(oe) _ Europa (on empathy) / 25' / Performance
2024 SYLVIE REVIENS _ Manu Louis / 5' / Music Video
2023 MARS / 1′ / Documentary
2023 KINDERGARTEN / 3′ / Documentary
2022 REPETITIONS / 4′ / Documentary
2021 FOR ALL WE KNOW _ Mary Ocher / 6′ /Music Video
2021 SUNNY SIDE UP _ TIN / 5′ /Music Video
in post production
2026 OUR STREETS / Writer & Director / 7′/ Documentary

SCREENINGS AND AWARDS

2025
05.12.2025 _ Close your eyes _ VIDEOAKTION #6, attaque(e)r le visible / Raum für drastiche Masßnahmen, Berlin, Germany (world premiere)
21.11.2025 _ Fireworks _ FILMS FOR FREEDOM, the film makers' cooperative / Canyon cinema, NYC, USA
14.11.2025 _ Mars _ Fisura, Festival Internacional de Cine y Video Experimental, Durango, Mexico
07.11.2025 _ Fireworks _ Les Instants Video, France, Argentina (world premiere)
08.10.2025 _ Happiness _ FLIGHT - Mostra Internazionale del Cinema di Genova, Genoa, Italy (world premiere)
27.09.2025 _ kindergarten _ Ko(o)rts SFF, Enschede, Netherlands
27.09.2025 _ kindergarten _ Experimental Brasil, Usina São João, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
20.08.2025 _ Sonnet _ Indy Film Library Experimental Showcase 2025, Amsterdam, Netherlands winner Best Director and Best Sound Design award
27.06.2025 _ Sonnet _ ShorTS International film festival, Trieste, Italy (world premiere)
11.06.2025 _ My name is Renata, she says _ Côté Court, Pantin, France
08.06.2025 _ My name is Renata, she says _ Côté Court, Pantin, France (world premiere)
30.05.2025 _ E(oe) _ Holding Space Festival _ R100 Neue Zukunft, Berlin, Germany
12.05.2025 _ E(oe) _ Experimontag _ Madame Claude, Berlin, Germany
30.04.2025 _ Mars _ KASK Ghent, Belgium
25.04.2025_ The hedgehog _ Riga Pasaules Film Festival, Riga, Latvia (world premiere)
10.04.2025 _ kindergarten _ Short Circuit Films, Brighton, UK
30.03.2025 _ Mars _ Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland
17.03.2025 _ Mars _ Cineversity, Genoa, Italy
14.02.2025 _ kindergarten _ the VASTLAB Experimental, Los Angeles, USA
18.01.2025 _ Mars _ Stuttgarter Filmwinter festival for expanded media, Stuttgart, Germany
05.01.2025 _ Sylvie reviens _ Experimental Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

2024
15.12.2024 _ kindergarten _ The Pugnant Film series, Athens, Greece
22.11.2024 _ Mars _ Nahui Ollin Film Festival, Mexico City, Mexico.
21.11.2024 _ Mars _ L’Alternativa, Barcelona Independent Film Festival, CCCB Barcelona, Spain
20.11.2024 _ kindergarten _ L’Alternativa, Barcelona Independent Film Festival, CCCB Barcelona, Spain _ winner International Short Film Award
25.10.2024 _ Répétitions _ Moving Body / Critical Moves, Varna, Bulgaria
19.10.2024 _ kindergarten _ Transient Visions, Johnson City, NY _ US
18.10.2024 _ kindergarten _ Bordeaux Shorts Biennale, Cinéma Utopia Bordeaux, France
18.10.2024 _ For all we know _ Klein Film Festival, Vukovar, Croatia.
16.10.2024 _ Mars _ FLIGHT - Mostra Internazionale del Cinema di Genova, Genoa, Italy
14.08.2024 _ kindergarten _ Fisura, Festival Internacional de Cine y Video Experimental, Mexico
04.08.2024 _ Mars _ Encuentro Internacional de Cineastas, Monterrey, Mexico
20.07.2024 _ kindergarten _ San Francisco Frozen Film Festival _ the Crossing Outdoor Cinema, San Francisco, US
17.07.2024 _ E(oe) _ Café Plume _ Berlin, Germany
10.06.2024 _ kindergarten _ Côté court _ Ciné 104 Pantin, France
08.06.2024 _ kindergarten _ Côté court _ Ciné 104 Pantin, France
08.06.2024 _ kindergarten _ One Shot ISFF _ Yerevan, Armenia
02.06.2024 _ E(oe) _ Noiseberg _ Atelier Äuglein Berlin, Germany
31.05.2024 _ kindergarten _ Mientras Tanto _ Facultade de Arte, Montevideo, Uruguay
20.03.2024 _ Mars _ SWF Beyond, Pies Andaluzyjski Poznań, Poland
19.03.2024 _ Mars _ Fargo Film Festival, Fargo ND, USA
16.03.2024 _ kindergarten _ Ribalta Experimental Film Festival, Vignola, Italy
21.01.2024 _ Repetitions _ Stuttgarter Filmwinter festival for expanded media, Stuttgart, Germany
12.01.2024 _ E(oe) _ Kookoo - Ohm Club _ Berlin, Germany (world premiere)

2023
14.11.2023 _ Mars _ Short Waves Film Festival Poznań, Poland (world premiere)
09.11.2023 _ Repetitions _ Experimental Superstars, Novi Sad, Serbia
04.11.2023 _ kindergarten _ 20minmax International Short Film Festival Ingolstadt, Germany (world premiere)
25.08.2023 _ E(oe) _ Hard to speak - PAS _ Berlin, Germany pre-premiere
25.08.2023 _ Repetitions _ Bogotá Experimental Film Festival, Colombia
12.07.2023 _ For All We Know _ Boston Short Film Festival, US
02.07.2023 _ For All We Know _ Psarokokalo - Athens International Short Film Festival, Greece
19.04.2023 _ Repetitions _ Under the Radar Vienna, Austria
28.03.2023 _ For All We Know _ Ghent International Short Film Festival _ winner best music video award _ Ghent, Belgium

2022
18.09.2022 _ Sunny Side Up _ Deep Focus Film Festival, New Yorck, US (theatrical premiere)
24.06.2022 _ For All We Know _ Reykjavik Independent Film Festival, Iceland
30.04.2022 _ Repetitions _ Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Germany (world premiere)

2021
14.11.2021 _ For All We Know _ Leeds International Film Festival, UK (world premiere)

NEWS (film by film)

RÉPÉTITIONS

2022

RÉPÉTITIONS is selected for Kurzfilmtage in Oberhausen in the International competition. Screening on 30/4/2022.
https://www.kurzfilmtage.de/en/festival/competitions/#t1763

RÉPÉTITIONS is available for online streaming with limited access on the european platform This is Short from 19th of June till 20th of July 2022
https://thisisshort.filmchief.com/screening-room/8

2023

RÉPÉTITIONS is selected for the Radar Vienna International Award in the UNDER_the_RADAR festival in Vienna.
The screening will take place on Tuesday 18.04 at 8pm (competition 6) at Blickle Kino in Belvedere 21. More details: https://2023.under-radar.com/

RÉPÉTITIONS is selected for the Bogotá Experimental Film Festival. The screening will take place 25.08 in Bogotá.
More details: https://bogotaexperimental.com/

RÉPÉTITIONS is selected for the Experimental Superstars Festival in Novi Sad (Serbia). The screening will take place at American Corner on 9 November 2023.
More details: https://mafinprodukcija.com

2024

RÉPÉTITIONS is selected for the Stuttgarter Filmwinter festival for expanded media, Stuttgart, Germany. The screening will take place on 21 January 2024.
More details: https://filmwinter.de

RÉPÉTITIONS is selected for Moving Body Festival / Critical Moves, Varna, Bulgaria. The screening will take place on 25.10.2024:
https://heyzine.com/flip-book/1f4f011989.html#page/4

kindergarten

2023

kindergarten will have its world premiere on 4 November 2023 at 20minmax ISFF Ingolstadt, Germany. More details:
https://www.20minmax.com/en/2023/kindergarten/

2024

kindergarten is selected for the Ribalta Experimental Film Festival. It will be screened in Vignola, Italy, on 16 March. More details:
https://ribaltaexperimental.com/filmfestival

review : BELLE LETTRES AL REFF – UNA EDUCAZIONE AL RICORDO by Stefano Bolzoni
in MEMENTO – Rivista di critica cinematografica _ 18.03.2024
https://mementocinema.it/2024/03/16/belle-lettres-al-reff-una-educazione-al-ricordo/

kindergarten is selected for being part of Mientras tanto CINE 2024 in Montevideo, Uruguay. Screening will take place in Montevideo Facultad de Artes on 31 May 2024. : https://mientrastantocine.wixsite.com/cine/mientras-tanto-cine-35

kindergarten is selected for One Shot ISFF. The screening will take place on 8th of June 2024 in Yerevan, Armenia. More information here: https://online.fliphtml5.com/yhkrk/srxj/#p=1

kindergarten is selected for Côté Court Festival as part of Essay / Video Art competition, the screening will take place on 08 and 10.06.2024 at Ciné 104, Pantin, France. More information here : https://www.cotecourt.org/2024-selection-cotecourt

kindergarten is selected for San Francisco Frozen Film Festival as part of the Experimental Short Film & Visual Art Program, the screening will take place on 20.07.2024 at The Crossing Outdoor Cinema, 250 Main St., San Francisco (CA), USA. More information here : https://www.frozenfilmfestival.com/sffff2024

kindergarten is selected for the Fisura, International Festival of Experimental Film and Video, Mexico. Screening will take place in Mexico City on 14 August 2024. More details: https://kinamfestival.wixsite.com/fisuracine

kindergarten is selected for the Bordeaux Shorts Biennale, France. Screening will take place on 18 October 2024, in Bordeaux: https://www.bordeauxshorts.fr/editionfr2024

kindergarten is selected for the Transient Visions: Festival of the Moving Image, Johnson City _ NY, USA. Screening will take place on 15 October 2024 at Spool Contemporary Art Space. http://www.transientvisions.org/2024tv.html

kindergarten won the award for best International Short Film at L’Alternativa, 31st Barcelona Independent Film Festival, Spain. Screening took place in Barcelone, on 20 November 2024. https://alternativa.cccb.org/2024/en/festival/awards/official-prizewinners

2025

kindergarten is selected for the VASTLab Experimental 2025, Los Angeles _ CA, USA. Screening will take place on 8 February 2025 at VASTLab. https://vastlab.org

kindergarten will be part of Short Circuit Films, Brighton _UK. the screening will take place at Fabrica on 10 April 2025.
https://www.shortcircuitfilms.co.uk

kindergarten is selected for the Experimental Brasil, Rio de Janeiro _BR. Screening take place in Usina São João on 27 August 2025. https://www.experimentalbrasil.com

kindergarten is selected for the Ko(o)rts SFF, Enschede, NL. Screening take place on 27 September 2025. https://koortsfilmfestival.nl

Mars

2023

Mars will have its world premiere on 14 November 2023 at Short Waves Festival (Poznań, Poland) as part of the RAW Competition. More details:
https://shortwaves.pl/en/2023/10/official-competition-selection-of-15th-short-waves-festival/

2024

Mars will be screened on 20th March at Pies Andaluzyjski, Poznań, Poland as part of the SWF BEYOND.
https://shortwaves.pl/en/2024/03/the-first-raw-competition-set-on-swf-beyond/

Mars is selected to be part of the Fargo Film Festival. Screening will take place in Fargo ND (USA), from 19 of March. More Details: https://fargofilmfestival.org/2024/01/11/fff24-official-selections-and-category-winners-announced/

Mars is selected to be part of the Encuentro Internacional de Cineastas. Screening will take place in Monterrey NL (Mexico), on 8 of August.

Mars is now available for online streaming on the platform thisisshort.com as part of the program Extraordinary Exceptions
https://thisisshort.filmchief.com/hub/viewing-details/712?sec=&back=section/92

Mars is selected to be part of the FLIGHT - Mostra Internazionale del Cinema di Genova. The screening will take place on 15 octobre 2024 in Genoa, Italy. https://www.mostradelcinemagenova.org

Mars is selected to be part of the L’Alternativa, 31st Barcelona Independent Film Festival. The screening will take place on 21 November 2024 in Barcelona, Spain. https://alternativa.cccb.org/2024/en/so/film/mars

Mars is selected to be part of the Nahui Ollin Film Festival. The event will take place from 22 to 24 November 2024 in Durango, Mexico.

2025

Mars is selected to be part of the Stuttgarter Filmwinter 2025. The screening will take place on 18 January. https://filmwinter.de

Mars is selected to be part of Cineversity 03-2025. The screening will take place on 17 March 2025 in Genoa, Italy. https://cineversity.unige.it

Mars will be screened at Museum of modern art in Warsaw, in the context of Best of RAW program on 30 March 2025.
https://artmuseum.pl/wydarzenia/the-best-of-raw

Mars will be screened at KASK, Ghent in the context of Short Waves Festival: RAW on 30 April 2025.
https://www.kaskcinema.be/kaskcinema/vertoning/short_waves_festival_raw

Mars is selected for the Fisura, International Festival of Experimental Film and Video, Mexico. Screening will take place in Mexico City on 18 August 2025. More details: https://kinamfestival.wixsite.com/fisuracine

SONNET

2025

SONNET will have its world première at shorTS International Film Festival, Trieste (Italy) on 26 June 2025
https://www.maremetraggio.com/2025/shorts-express/sonnet/

SONNET wins the award for Best Director and Best Sound Design at the Indi Film Library Experimental Showcase !
https://indyfilmlibrary.com/2025/09/01/ifl-commends-best-experimental-shorts-of-2025-showcase

The Hedgehog
Le hérisson

2025

Le hérisson (the hedgehog) will have its world première at Riga Pasaules Film Festival, Riga (Latvia) on 25 April 2025
https://www.kinobize.lv/en/repertoire/film-festival/rpff-shorts-playful-sensitivities/577

O meu nome é Renata

My name is Renata, she says

2025

O meu nome é Renata will have its world premiere at Côté Court festival, on 8 and 11 June 2025
https://www.cotecourt.org/

Happiness

2025

Happiness will have its world premiere at FLIGHT - Mostra Internazionale del Cinema di Genova. The screening will take place on 6 October 2025 in Genoa, Italy.
https://www.mostradelcinemagenova.org

Fireworks

2025

Fireworks will have its world premiere at Les Instants Video, Marseille (Fr).
https://www.instantsvideo.com/blog/video/feux-dartifice

an excerpt of Fireworks has been selected for being part of the project FILMS FOR FREEDOM by The Film-makers' cooperative and Canyon Cinema in New York, USA.
https://film-makerscoop.com/screenings/films-for-freedom-presented-by-the-film-makers-cooperative-a

Close your eyes

2025

Close your eyes had its world premiere on 5.12.2025 in VIDEOAKTION #6 / Attaque(e)r le visible, Berlin, Germany. https://www.attaqueerlevisible.com/videoaktion-6/

E(oe) _ Europa (on empathy)

2024

E(oe) _ Europa (on empathy) will have it's 1st public event at OHM Club Berlin on Friday 12.01.2024 https://ra.co/events/1827751

E(oe) _ Europa (on empathy) will be performed at Noiseberg Berlin on Sunday 02.06.2024 noiseberg.com

E(oe) _ Europa (on empathy) will be performed at Café Plume Berlin on 17.07.2024

2025

E(oe) _ Europa (on empathy) will be performed at Experimontag in Madame Claude, Berlin, on Monday 12.05.2025 https://madameclaude.de

E(oe) _ Europa (on empathy) will be performed at Holding Space Festival in R100 Neue Zukunft, Berlin, on Friday 30.05.2025 https://neue-zukunft.org

FOR ALL WE KNOW

2021

FOR ALL WE KNOW will have its international premiere at LEEDS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 14/11/2021.
https://www.leedsfilm.com/archive/leeds-music-video-competition-2021/mary-ocher-for-all-we-know/

2022

FOR ALL WE KNOW has been selected to be part of Reykjavik Independant Film Festival that will be held on 22/02/2022
More info here : https://indiefilmfest.net/results/

2023

FOR ALL WE KNOW has won the award of best music video at Ghent International Short Film Festival
More info here : https://www.ghentshortfilmfestival.com/2023
FOR ALL WE KNOW is selected to be part of Athens International Short Film Festival Psarokokalo. Screening from July 2nd 2023.
more info here : https://www.psarokokalo.org
FOR ALL WE KNOW is selected to be part of Boston Short Film Festival. Screening on July 12th 2023.
more info : https://www.bostonshortfilmfestival.org/

2024

FOR ALL WE KNOW is selected to be part of Klein Film Festival
https://kleinfilmfestival.com/en/home/

Finalcutmagazine.com has published an interview of Yann les Jours about FOR ALL WE KNOW : https://www.finalcutmagazine.com/post/one-on-one-with-filmmaker-yann-les-jours-about-his-music-video-for-all-we-know-and-more

Sunny Side Up

2021

SUNNY SIDE UP has received the honorable mention of REALE FILM FESTIVAL in June 2021.
http://www.realefilmfestival.com/festival/june-2021/

SUNNY SIDE UP has been selected to Bratislava International Film Awards in October 2021.
http://bifafilmawards.eu/index.html

2022

SUNNY SIDE UP has been selected to Deep Focus Film Festival, screening happening in New York - Brooklyn 18th of September 2022.
https://www.deepfocusfilmfestival.com/

from 25th till 29th of October 2022, Yann les Jours takes part to the project Worst film of the festival at Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival. The film developped in in collaboration with 14 other directors within 3 days with no script will be screened in the festival on Saturday 29th October 2022.
https://www.ji-hlava.com/filmy/nejhorsi-film-na-festivalu

email : yannlesjours@gmail.com
phone: +33688047830

FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR

NEWS (film by film)

The Hedgehog Le hérisson

The Hedgehog
Le hérisson