District B13

Pierre Morel (born 12 May 1964) is a French cinematographer and film director.

After spending his formative years in cinema school, Pierre Morel debuted in 2000 as camera operator with the first Richard Berry’s film L’Art (délicat) de la séduction.

The next year, he began a career as cinematographer, working with such directors as Louis Leterrier, Corey Yuen, Nancy Meyers, Alek Keshishian, Luc Besson and Phillip Atwell. At the same time, he directed his first film District 13 in 2004, followed by Taken in 2008 and From Paris with Love, in 2010.

According to an online article, Morel has taken over the directing duties for the upcoming Paramount remake of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Morel will replace Peter Berg who left the film in October 2009. He has since left the project. He was in talk to direct the film adaption of the Hasbro game Ouija.

Controversy

Some critics have the opinion that Morel has a racist agenda for his negative portrayal of Albanians and Arabs in the film Taken. The Daily Telegraph’s view was “Taken is notable mainly for its racist stereotyping of Arabs and eastern Europeans.” He has also been criticised for the film From Paris with Love, for its portrayal of Pakistani terrorists. —Wikipedia