Damien Manivel started his artistic career as a contemporary dancer before turning to cinema. After studying in Le Fresnoy, he directed several awarded shorts, including The Lady with the Dog, winner of the Jean Vigo Prize in 2010, and A Sunday Morning, selected in 2012 for the Semaine de la Critique at Cannes. He entered the realm of feature films with A Young Poet, which was presented at several international film festivals throughout 2015, earning Manivel a special mention at the Locarno festival.


His second feature, The Park, was presented as a part of Cannes ACID 2016 (Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema) and, in the following year, his third feature Takara - The Night I Swam was nominated for best picture at the Venice and Ghent film festivals. Additionally, it was also nominated for the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera award at the San Sebastián film festival.


His most recent film, Isadora’s Children, brought him the award for best director at the Locarno film festival, and an honorable mention at the San Sebastián festival. This his first film about dance, bringing forward his interdisciplinary perspective within the arts.