Gregori Viens

Gregori Viens was born in Los Angeles but grew up in Paris and is a dual citizen of France and the United States After studying sociology at the Université de Paris he moved back to California and obtained a BA in Political Science from UCLA and later an MFA in Film from Syracuse University At age 24 he made his first feature length documentary Island of Roses The Jews of Rhodes in Los Angeles He taught undergraduate and graduate film classes at UCLA School of Theater Film and Television as well as Occidental College and Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles His 2009 feature comedy Punching the Clown cowritten with Henry Phillips won the Audience Award at the Slamdance Film Festival and received wide ranging critical acclaim His 2016 follow up Punching Henry premiered at SXSW and was awarded the Story Award by the International Screenwriters Association at the Chicago Comedy Film Festival Beyond France and the US he has also lived in Latin America Nicaragua and Chile as well as Eastern Africa Djibouti