The Childhood of a Leader (film)

The Childhood of a Leader
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBrady Corbet
Screenplay byBrady Corbet
Mona Fastvold
Based onThe Childhood of a Leader
by Jean-Paul Sartre
Produced byAntoine de Clermont-Tonnerre
Chris Coen
Brady Corbet
Ron Curtis
Helena Danielsson
Mona Fastvold
István Major
StarringBérénice Bejo
Liam Cunningham
Stacy Martin
Robert Pattinson
Tom Sweet
CinematographyLol Crawley
Edited byDávid Jancsó
Music byScott Walker
Production
companies
  • Bow and Arrow Entertainment
  • FilmTeam
  • Hepp Film
  • Media House Capital
  • MACT Productions
  • Unanimous Entertainment
  • Scope Pictures
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 5 September 2015 (2015-09-05) (Venice)
  • 22 July 2016 (2016-07-22) (United States)
  • 19 August 2016 (2016-08-19) (United Kingdom)
Running time
116 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • Hungary
  • Sweden
  • France
  • Canada
  • Belgium
Languages
  • English
  • French
  • German
Budget$5 million
Box office$245,546

The Childhood of a Leader is a 2015 period coming-of-age psychological drama film co-written, co-produced and directed by Brady Corbet in his directorial debut. It is loosely based on Jean-Paul Sartre's short story of the same name, published in 1939 in a collection entitled The Wall. Corbet co-wrote the screenplay with his partner Mona Fastvold.

An international co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Sweden, France, Canada and Belgium, the film chronicles the childhood of a fascist leader in the period immediately following World War I. Production began in early 2015, in Budapest, (Hungary). The film had its world premiere in competition in the Horizon section at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival on 5 September 2015, and won two awards at the festival, Best Debut film and Best Director.