Costa-Gavras

(Konstantinos Gavras / Febru­ary 12, 1933, Loutra-Iraias, Greece-)

   The son of a bureaucrat of the Greek government who joined the Resistance during World War II, he encountered many difficulties after his father was suspected of being a Communist and put into jail. The doors of Greek universities were closed to him, and he was refused a visa to study in the USA. In 1951, he set­tled in France, where he studied literature and law for two years before entering the IDHEC. In 1958, he was hired as a trainee assistant director (L'Ambitieuse / UK: The Dispossessed / USA: The Ambitious One / US TV: The Climbers, Yves Allégret, France / Italy / Australia) before serving as second assistant director (1960 Robinson et le Triporteur / Holà, Robinson! / USA: Monsieur Robinson Crusoe, Jack Pinoteau, France / Spain; Crésus, Jean Giono; 1961 Tout l'Or du Monde / Tutto l'oro del mondo / UK and USA: All the Gold in the World, René Clair, France / Italy) and then first assistant director (1962 Un Singe en Hiver / UK: It's Hot in Hell / USA: A Monkey in Winter, Henri Verneuil; 1963 La Baie des Anges / UK: Bay of Angels / USA: Bay of the Angels, Jacques Demy; Le Jour et l'Heure / Il giorno e l'ora / UK: Today We Live / USA: The Day and the Hour, René Clément, France / Italy; Peau de Banane / Buccia di banana / USA: Banana Peel, Marcel Ophuls, France / Italy; 1964 Les Félins / UK: The Love Cage / USA: Joy House, René Clément; Echappement libre / Scappamento aperto / A escape libre / Der Boss hat sich was ausgedacht / USA: Backfire, Jean Becker, France / Italy / Spain / West Germany). Thanks to the help of Simone Signoret and Yves Montand, he made his directing debut filming an adaptation of a Sébastien Japrisot novel. He occasionally co-wrote movies (1976 Monsieur Klein / Chi è Mr. Klein? / UK and USA: Mr. Klein, uncredited, Joseph Losey, France / Italy; 2006 Mon Colo­nel, also producer, Laurent Herbiet, France / Belgium), played in a few films (1977 La Vie devant soi / UK: A Life Ahead / USA: Madame Rosa, Moshé Mizrahi;1985 Spies Like Us, John Landis, USA; 1996 The Stupids, John Landis, USA), and appeared as himself in various documen­taries (1974 Le Cinéma français par ceux qui l'ont fait, Armand Panigel; Les Deux Mémoires, Jorge Semprun; 1976 Costa-Gavras—Talks with Marcel Carné, TV short, John Musilli; 1979 Cineastas en México: Entrevista a Costa Gavras, Miguel Necoechea, Mexico; 2002 Romy Schneider, Etrange Etrangère, TV, Anne Andreu). He co-founded with his wife Michèle Ray-Gavras a pro­duction company, KG Productions, which co-financed most of his films and such movies as Le Thé au Harem d'Archimède / USA: Tea in the Harem (Mehdi Charef, 1985), Miss Mona (Mehdi Charef), and Pleure pas, My Love (Tony Gatlif, 1989).

 Filmography

1958 ◘ Les Rates (short; also screenwriter)

1965 ◘ Compartiment Tueurs / UK: The Sleeping Car Murder / USA: The Sleeping Car Murders (also screenwriter, adapter, producer)

1967 ◘ Un Homme de trop / Il 13° uomo / UK and USA: Shock Troops (as Constantin Costa-Gavras; also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, producer; France / Italy)

        ◘ Z (as Constantin Costa-Gavras; also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Algeria)

        ◘ L'Aveu / La confessione / UK and USA: The Con­fession (France / Italy)

1973 ◘ Etat de Siège / LAmerikano / Der unsichtbare Aufstand / UK and USA: State of Siege (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Italy / West Germany)

1975 ◘ Section spéciale / L'affare della sezione speciale / Sondertribunal—Jeder kampft fur sich allein / UK and USA: Special Section (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, actor; France / Italy / West Germany)

        ◘ Grand Canyon (short; also screenwriter)

        ◘ Clair de Femme / Chiaro di donna / Die Liebe einer Frau / USA: Womanlight (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist; France / Italy / West Germany)

1982 ◘ Missing (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; USA)

1983 ◘ Hanna K (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist)

1986 ◘ Conseil de Famille / UK and USA: Family Busi­ness (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist)

        ◘ Betrayed (USA)

        ◘ Music Box (USA)

1991 ◘ Contre l'Oubli / Ecrire contre l'Oubli / Against Ob­livion / Lest We Forget (documentary; segment "Pour Kim Song-Man, Corée")

1993 ◘ La Petite Apocalypse / La piccolo apocalisse (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Italy / Poland)

1995 ◘ A propos de Nice, la Suite (segment "Les Kankobals")

        ◘ Lumière et Compagnie / Lumiere y compania / Lumière and Company (co-director only; France / Spain / Denmark / Sweden)

1997 ◘ Mad City (USA)

2002 ◘ Amen / Der Stellvertreter / UK and USA: Eyewit­ness (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Germany / Romania)

2005 ◘ Le Couperet / Arcadia (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Belgium / Spain)

2009 ◘ Eden à l'Ouest / Eden Is West / Pardeisos sti Dysi (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist; France / Greece / Italy)