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VIRAL EXCLUSIVE
July 31, 2024
Ladj Ly Admits to Mishandling Funds and pays €50,000 Fine
Ly and brother Amadou have paid back €300,000 in funds from Ly’s production company and charity organisation.
France - French filmmaker Ladj Ly, known for
his explosive debut feature Les Misérables, has recently admitted to
mishandling funds from his production company and a charity organization. To
avoid trial, he will pay a €50,000 fine.
Ladj Ly and
his brother Amadou, president of both Lyly Films (the production company) and
the association La Cité des Arts Visuels, were accused of a “breach of trust”
in the French legal system.
The charity
organisation, La Cité des Arts Visuels, supported Ly’s free, open-application
Kourtrajmé film school. Authorities suspected the brothers of using funds meant
for the association and production company for personal use.
The brothers
have paid back the €300,000 in funding they were accused of mishandling between
December 2020 and February 2022. Amadou received a six-month suspended prison
term, a €100,000 suspended fine, and a five-year ban on working in a commercial
or industrial profession.
Ladj Ly’s
debut feature Les Misérables won the jury prize at Cannes and received
four César awards, including Best Film. It was also Oscar-nominated in the
international feature category.
His follow-up
feature, Les Indésirables, premiered at Toronto last September. Ly is
now in pre-production on the final film in a trilogy set in his native
Montfermeil neighbourhood.
In 2019,
French media outlets reported on Ly’s criminal past, including a two-year
prison term for complicity in a kidnapping case in 2009. Ly sued two
right-leaning French magazines for defamation and false reporting.
Ladj Ly’s
journey from acclaimed filmmaker to financial controversy sheds light on the
complexities of the entertainment industry. His artistic achievements remain
significant, but this recent chapter serves as a cautionary tale.
