Óliver Laxe Coro (; born 1982) is a French-born Galician film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is known for his films You All Are Captains (2010), Mimosas (2016), Fire Will Come (2019), and Sirāt (2025). The latter was nominated for Best International Film and Best Sound at the 98th Academy Awards and earned Laxe the Jury Prize at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
Early life and education Laxe was born Óliver Lage Coro, later changing his surname from the castilianized version Lage to Laxe. He was born in 1982 in Paris to Galician parents. They had met at Bataclan at a dance party for emigrants and worked as concierges in the 16th arrondissement. Laxe's grandparents were peasants from Lugo, his mother is from Vilela, Navia de Suarna, while his father is from A Ponte de Outeiro, Castro de Rei.
He grew up in the city in a room shared with his parents and attended the Spanish government-operated school Federico García Lorca until the age of six. In 1988, after a picture taken by his father Jacinto won a prize at the Paris Photography Salon, Laxe's father was hired to work selling photography materials in Manlleu, Catalonia. As the job was not what he expected, the family moved back to Galicia and settled in A Coruña. Óliver attended the and in his teens played for Básquet Coruña's youth team.
After completing his secondary education, he moved to Pontevedra and studied for two years Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Vigo's Faculty of Communication, during which time he lived in the Plaza de la Verdura and discovered arthouse cinema at the Pontevedra Film Club. He associated with the college's fine art students, and staged several art installations during this time. Disillusioned with his major, he moved to Barcelona where he finally studied filmmaking at the Pompeu Fabra University and did his Erasmus in London where he filmed his first short and final degree project Y las chimeneas decidieron escapar. After graduating in 2006, he moved to Morocco.
Laxe has a brother, Felipe, who works as a film producer and often collaborates on his films.
Career
His directorial debut feature film, You All Are Captains, premiered in the Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des réalisateurs) section at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize.
In 2013 he acted in the experimental film O quinto evanxeo de Gaspar Hauser, directed by Alberto Gracia.
His second feature as director, Mimosas, was filmed in the Atlas Mountains and screened in the Critics' Week section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Nespresso Grand Prize. The project was developed through the TorinoFilmLab Interchange programme in 2011.
Returning to his native Galicia, he directed Fire Will Come, which premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize.
His fourth feature, Sirāt, premiered in Competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and won the Jury Prize.
Personal life Aside from his native Galician and Spanish, Laxe is fluent in French. He can also speak Catalan and English. He changed his surname from the castilianized version Lage.
Laxe has been living in Navia de Suarna, Lugo since 2020. The family house, named Casa Quindós after his maternal grandmother, also functions as the headquarters of the Ser Association, which promotes cultural and environmentalist activities in rural Galicia. He was married to costume designer and casting director Nadia Acimi for five years. They divorced in 2024, shortly before they both started filming for Sirāt.
Filmography
Feature films Year English Title Original Title 2010 You All Are Captains Todos vós sodes capitáns 2016 Mimosas 2019 Fire Will Come O que arde 2025 Sirāt
Short films YearTitle2006Y las chimeneas decidieron escapar2007Suena la trompeta, ahora veo otra cara2008París #1
Other Credits Year Title Notes 2010 Moussem les morts Only actor 2015 The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers
Awards and nominations
Award Year Category Film Result Academy Awards 2025 Best International Feature Film Sirāt Golden Globes 2025 Best Non-English Language Film Sirāt British Independent Film Awards 2025 Best International Independent Film Sirāt Cairo International Film Festival 2016 Golden Pyramid Mimosas Cannes Film Festival 2010 FIPRESCI Prize – Quinzaine des réalisateurs You All Are Captains Caméra d'Or 2016 Critics' Week Grand Prize Mimosas 2019 Un Certain Regard Jury Prize Fire Will Come 2025 Palme d'Or Sirāt Jury Prize Chicago International Film Festival 2025 Gold Hugo Sirāt Denver Film Festival 2025 Krzysztof Kieslowski Award Sirāt European Film Awards 2026 European Film Sirāt European Director European Screenwriter Gaudí Awards 2020 Best European Film Fire Will Come 2026 Best Non-Catalan Language Film Sirāt Best Director Gotham Awards 2025 Best Director Sirāt Goya Awards2026 Best DirectorSirāt Goya Awards Best Original Screenplay Goya Awards 2020 Best Director Fire Will Come Hainan International Film Festival 2019 Special Jury Prize Fire Will Come Lumière Awards 2017 Best French-Language Film Mimosas Seville European Film Festival 2016 Grand Jury Award Mimosas Taipei Film Festival 2017 Special Jury Prize Mimosas Thessaloniki Film Festival 2019 Golden Alexander Fire Will Come
References
External links
Oliver Laxe at Novo Cinema Galego