Born in London, Claire Simon first directed independent short films. She then discovered the practice of direct cinema with the Ateliers Varan and made several documentaries such as At All Costs (1995) and Recreations (1998), which garnered multiple awards. She wrote and directed three feature fiction films which were presented in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes: A Foreign Body (1997), On Fire (2005), God’s Offices (2008). Her most recent films include Gare du Nord (2013, fiction), which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, The Woods Dreams Are Made Of (2015, documentary) and The Competition (2016, documentary), which premiered at Venice International Film Festival and won the award of Venice Classics Best Documentary. Her latest documentary, The Grocer’s Son, The Mayor, The Village And The World premiered at IDFA 2020.