In 2002, Julien Elie directed his first documentary about the death penalty in the USA, followed by a medium-length documentary filmed in East Africa the same year. After taking a fifteen-year hiatus from cinema, he returned in 2018 with his film Dark Suns. The epic story about the wave of violence that has affected Mexico for years won multiple awards and distinctions (CPH DOX, FICUNAM, FILMFEST HAMBURG, etc.) and was presented in nearly seventy festivals worldwide. In 2023, The White Guard (La Garde Blanche), a second feature-length documentary filmed in Mexico, addressing the devastation of landscapes and territories by private companies, was released in 2023. Shifting Baselines, his latest film, premiered at Vision du réel (Nyon) festival in April 2025 and Hot Docs (Toronto). It will be released in cinemas in the next few months.

Julien Elie
Director — Dark Suns
Director — The White Guard
Speaker — Progress or Destruction? In-Conversation (Industry Event, 2025)
Director: Shifting Baselines