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Jan Kounen (born Jan Coenen; 2 May 1964) is a Netherlands-born French film director and Film producer.
In France, he is mostly known for his films Dobermann (1997), Blueberry, l'experience secrete (2004) and 99 Francs (2007). Outside France he is better known for his interest in Shipibo language culture and shamanism, with which he became familiar during his trips to Mexico and Peru, and for directing some music videos of which, the most notable are the four videos he did for the English pop group Erasure in the 1990s (including three for the project Abba-esque) : Lay all your love on me (1992), Voulez-vous (1992), S.O.S. (1992) and Always (1994).
In the early 90s, Kounen worked in advertising and made two highly acclaimed short films, Vibroboy and Little Red Riding Hood, the latter seeing him work with Emmanuelle Béart. In 1996, he made his first feature film, Dobermann, starring French actor Vincent Cassel.
In the 2000s, Jan Kounen traveled across Mexico and Peru, where he immersed in shaman culture, and participated in ayahuasca ceremonies around a hundred times. His next film was Blueberry (2004), an adaptation of the famous comic strip by Jean-Michel Charlier and Jean Giraud, better known as Moebius, with Vincent Cassel in the title role. The same year, he released Other Worlds (2005), a documentary about shamanism. After making his film Darshan - The Embrace (2005), Kounen staged the Comedy 99 F in 2007, a satire of the world of advertising adapted from the bestseller by Frédéric Beigbeder and produced by Jean Dujardin.
After participating in the Project 8 where he campaigned to improve maternal health in the world, he made Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2009), a biographical film about the relationship between Coco Chanel, the French fashion designer, and Igor Stravinsky, the Russian composer, starring Anna Mouglalis and Mads Mikkelsen. The film closed the 2009 Cannes Festival.
In 2009, Kounen signed a petition in support of film director Roman Polanski, calling for his release after Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
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