Director Mael Le Mée wins the 2026 Aide au parcours d'auteurices

As part of its policy to structure professional career paths in film and the audiovisual sector, the Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine and ALCA are creating a dedicated scheme entitled "Aide au parcours", aimed at experienced writers and writer-directors from Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Mael Le Mée and four other laureates are receiving this personal and financial support from October 2026 to October 2028.

Biography

Following a research master's degree in film, Mael Le Mée spent twenty years writing around a hundred episodes of children's animated series while presenting an equal number of performances for adults focusing on the body and technologies in contemporary creative venues such as the Palais de Tokyo. In 2011, La Gaîté Lyrique commissioned him to create a youth multimedia theatre piece for its opening. It then toured national theatres for five years and was adapted by France Culture. In 2017, he directed Aurore (Aurora), co-produced by Canal+, which won best international short film at the Fantasia festival in Montreal and was released theatrically in the 4 Histoires Fantastiques (4 Fantastic Stories) collection. His second short film, La Machine d'Alex (Alex's Machine), co-produced by France Télévisions, notably received the Méliès d'Argent at Sitges and was selected for the 2024 César awards.

Projects

Mael Le Mée is currently developing two queer science fiction feature films with the support of the Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Organique (Organic) imagines a very near future where cars are powered by living engines made of artificial flesh. Set in the heart of a vast forest, it is the story of Lou, the daughter of a couple of mechanics, who discovers that she is neither entirely their daughter, nor entirely a girl, nor entirely human... In La Presqu'île (The Peninsula), we follow Camille, an oil engineer sent to the Atlantic coast for a routine well inspection on a scorching autumn day. In this disrupted climate conducive to dreams and hallucinations, Camille will have to face his existential contradictions and the desires he has always kept hidden.

Selected Filmography

La Machine d'Alex, fiction short films – writer-director, 2022, 25 min, produced by Bobi Lux, Naoko Films and France 2. With the support of the Région Normandie and PROCIREP. Selected for the 2024 César awards. Méliès d'Argent at the Sitges Film Festival. International Competition Prize at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. Acting Award at Cabourg. Special Effects Award at the Tokyo Horror Film Festival. Best Short at Caligari. Audience Award at the Queer Film Festival Berlin. Selected for some fifty international festivals: Utopiales, Gérardmer, Brussels Short Film Festival, Fantasia, Bucheon, La Rochelle, Neuchâtel, Galacticat, Off-Courts, Taiwan Queer Film Festival, Shanghai Short Week... Aurore, 18 min, 2017, produced by Bobi Lux, Capricci and Canal+. With support from NTP – CNC, post-production Nouvelle-Aquitaine and SACEM. Grand Prix for international short film at the Fantasia (Montreal) and Galacticat (Tarrega) festivals. Jury Prize in Coruña. Jury and Editing Prize in Mulhouse. Directing and Special Effects Prize in Manises. Theatrical release in the "4 Histoires Fantastiques" collection. Selected for some fifty international festivals: Gérardmer, Clermont-Ferrand, Berlin Interfilm, Dresden, Copenhagen, San Sebastian Horror and Fantasy Film Festival, Los Angeles West Coast Horror Film Festival, Rome MedFilm Festival, Prague Short Film Festival... 16 place vendôme, 59 min, documentary – co-writer-director, 2021, produced by BAM, co-directed with Isabelle Solas and Michel Bananes Jr. With the support of the University of Bordeaux, the Bordeaux Magnetic fund – CNC and creation support from the City of Bordeaux. Selected for the Musical Écran and Tek A(rt) festivals.

Screenwriter for children's animation series since 2023: Idéfix (Idefix), Jean-Michel super caribou (Jean-Michel Super Caribou), Oscar et Malika, Yakari, Grabouillon, Mini-Loup, Flapacha, Marsupilami...