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Ruben Östlund

Ruben Östlund was a Swedish writer and director whose 2014 drama "Force Majeure," became a surprise hit at Cannes. Born and raised in Sweden, Östlund's fascination with filmmaking began in his teens when he started making ski movies. His films eventually secured him a spot at a prestigious film school in Gothenburg, where he learned the fundamental techniques of making a feature length movie. He graduated from film school in 2001, and immediately set about starting his own production company, Plattform Produktion, thus giving him the leverage to have complete creative control over all of his work. In 2004 he wrote and directed his first feature film, "The Guitar Mongoloid." That film received mostly positive reviews and instilled Östlund with the confidence he needed to direct two more features, 2008's "Involuntary," and "Play" from 2011. Both films were met with warm critical praise, making Östlund's fourth feature eagerly anticipated. "Force Majeure," about a businessman who attempts to abandon his family in midst of a life-threatening avalanche, debuted to rousing applause at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. The film went on to pick up the prestigious Jury Prize at the Festival, thus further cementing Östlund's status as one of the international film community's most talked about directors. Östlund's foillow-up feature, the semi-autobiographical art world satire "The Square" (2017), won Cannes' prestigious Palme d'Or.