Costa-Gavras Biography (1933-)

Full name, Konstantin Costa-Gavras; original name, Kostantinos Gavras; born February 12, 1933, in Athens (some sources say Loutra-Iraias), Greece; naturalized French citizen, 1956; married Michele Ray (a journalist), 1968; children: Alexandre, Helene, Romain. Career: Director, producer, and screenwriter. Cinematheque Francaise, president, 1982--. Worked as a ballet dancer andas an assistant to film directors Yves Allegret, Jacques Demy, Marcel Ophuls, Rene Clair, Jean Giorno, and Rene Clement. Involved with K. G. Productions.Awards, Honors: Moscow Film Festival Award, 1966, for Un homme detrop; New York Film Critics Award, best director, Jury Prize, Cannes International Film Festival, Academy Award nominations, best director and best screenplay based on material from another medium (with Jorge Semprun), and Raoul-Levy Prize, all 1969, for Z; Louis Delluc Prize, 1973, for Etat de siege; Best Director Award, Cannes International Film Festival, 1975, for Section speciale; Academy Award (with Donald Stewart), best screenplay, Golden Palm Award, Cannes International Film Festival, Writers Guild ofAmerica Screen Award (with Donald Stewart), Writers Guild of America Award, best dramatic screenplay based on material previously produced or published, and Golden Globe Award nominations, best director of a motion picture and bestscreenplay (with Donald Stewart), all 1982, for Missing; Golden Berlin Bear, Berlin International Film Festival, 1990, for Music Box; French Legion of Honor, named a commander of Arts and Letters of France and nameda chevalier. Addresses: Agent: John Ptak, William Morris Agency, 151 El Camino Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Nationality: French
Gender: Male
Occupation: Director, Producer, Screenwriter
Birth Details: February 12, 1933; Athens, Greece

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Work
Director, Unless Otherwise Noted
Assistant director, La baie des anges (also known as Bay of Angels and Bay of the Angels), Pathe, 1962
Assistant director, Le jour et l'heure (also known as The Day and the Hour, Today We Live, and Il giorno e l'ora),Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1963
Assistant director, Les felins (also known as Joy House andThe Love Cage), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1964
Compartiment tueurs (also known as The Sleeping Car Murderand The Sleeping Car Murders), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1965
Un homme de trop (also known as Shock Troops), United Artists, 1967
Z, Cinema V, 1969
L'aveu (also known as The Confession), Paramount, 1970
Etat de siege (also known as State of Siege, L'amerikano, and Der Unsichtbare Aufstand), Cinema V, 1972
Section speciale (also known as Special Section and L'affare della sezione speciale), Universal, 1975
Clair de femme (also known as Womanlight, Chiaro di donna, and Die Liebe einer Frau), Atlantic Releasing, 1979
Missing, Universal, 1982
And producer, Hanna K., Universal, 1983
Family Business (also known as Family Council and Le conseil de famille), European Classics, 1986
Betrayed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists, 1988
Summer Lightning (also known as Sundown), 1988
Music Box, TriStar, 1989
Segment of the film Z, Splendor, Cecchi Gori, 1989
Contre l'oubli (also known as Against Oblivion, LestWe Forget, and Ecrire contre l'oubli), Amnesty International,1991
La petite apocalypse (also known as The Little Apocalypse and La piccola apocalisse), K. G. Productions, 1993

Lumiere et compagnie (also known as Lumiere and Company andLumiere y compania), Fox Lorber, 1995
"Les Kankobales," A propos de Nice, la suite, 1995
Mad City, Warner Bros., 1997
Film Appearances
Ramon, Madame Rosa (also known as A Life Ahead and La vie devant soi), Atlantic Releasing, 1977
Tadzhik highway patrol officer, Spies Like Us, Warner Bros., 1985
Person at gas station, The Stupids, New Line Cinema, 1996
Himself, Enredando sombras, Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografia,1998
Television Appearances
Specials
Jessica Lange: It's Only Make-Believe, Cinemax, 1991
Stage Work
Director; Operas
Il mondo dela luna, 1994
WRITINGS
Screenplays, Unless Otherwise Noted
(With Sebastien Japrisot) Compartiment tueurs (also known as The Sleeping Car Murder and The Sleeping Car Murders), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1965
Un homme de trop (also known as Shock Troops), United Artists, 1967
(With Jorge Semprun) Z, Cinema V, 1969
(with Franco Solinas) Etat de siege (also known as State of Siege, L'amerikano, and Der Unsichtbare Aufstand), CinemaV, 1972
Section speciale (also known as Special Section and L'affare della sezione speciale), Universal, 1975
Clair de femme (also known as Womanlight, Chiaro di donna, and Die Liebe einer Frau), Atlantic Releasing, 1979
(With Donald Stewart) Missing, Universal, 1982
(With Franco Solinas) Hanna K., Universal, 1983
The au harem d'Archimede (also known as Tea in the Harem), M and R Films, 1985
Family Business (also known as Family Council and Le conseil de famille), European Classics, 1986
Summer Lightning (also known as Sundown), 1988
Segment of the film Z, Splendor, Cecchi Gori, 1989
La petite apocalypse (also known as The Little Apocalypse and La piccola apocalisse), K. G. Productions, 1993
"Cliff's Theme Song," Mad City, Warner Bros., 1997
Other Writings
Contributor to periodicals, including Cahiers de la Cinematheque, Cineaste, Film Comment, Films and Filming, Independent, Take One, and Time Out.

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 2: Directors/Filmmakers, St. James Press (Chicago, IL), 1991.

Periodicals:

American Film, March 1982, .
Cineaste, Volume 12, number 1, 1982.
Film Comment, /April, 1982.
Image et Son, December 1977, .
Jeune Cinema, November 1983, .
New Perspectives Quarterly, fall, 1995, pp. 4-8.
Sight and Sound, summer, 1984.*

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