Lionel Bernardin was born in Angouleme, France, in 1981. With a degree in images and communication, he first worked as a composer. He also participated in recording an album of urban music in New York in 2003, and then at the Francofolies workshops in 2005. Always fascinated by images and fiction, he went on to directing in 2009. He wrote and directed five short subjects for which he also composed the original music. Confessions Financières (2015) received an award from Cédric Klapisch at Sundance Channel Shorts in 2015. The film was then selected by several festivals, such as the Angouleme Francophone Film Festival, the Sacramento International Film Festival, and the European Short Festival in Bordeaux. Grounds of Hope is his first feature-length fictional film.
Grounds of Hope
Alex, a former professional boxer, works for a rural cement company. One night, his twin sister, pursued by armed men, barges in at his place with an immigrant and his daughter. Caught up by the circumstances, he agrees to hide them, unaware of how many people are after them. The spiral begins.