COSTA-GAVRAS
Name: Costa Gavras.
Birth name: Constantin Costa-Gavras
Born: 13 February 1933 Loutra Iraias, Greece
Constantinos Gavras (born February 13, 1933, Loutra Iraias, Greece), better
known as (Constantin) Costa-Gavras (and other variants), is a Greek-French
filmmaker best known for films with overt political themes, most famously the
dark, fast-paced thriller, Z (1969). Most of his movies were made in French;
starting with Missing (1982), several were made in English.
Costa-Gavras was born to a poor family in the village of Loutra Iraias (Λουτρά
Ηραίας), Arcadia. His family spent the Second World War in a village in the
Peloponnese, and moved to Athens after the war. His father had been a member of
the left-wing EAM branch of the Greek Resistance, and was imprisoned after the
war as a suspected communist. His father's record made it impossible for him to
attend university or emigrate to the United States, so after high school
Costa-Gavras went to France, where he began his studies of law in 1951.
In 1956, he left his university studies to study film at the French national
film school, IDHEC. After film school, he apprenticed under Yves Allegret, and
became an assistant director for Jean Giono and Rene Clair. After several
further positions as first assistant director, he directed his first feature
film, Compartiment Tueurs, in 1965.
Costa-Gavras was president of the Cinémathèque française from 1982 to 1987. He
is a first cousin of recording artist Jimmie Spheeris and filmmaker Penelope
Spheeris. His daughter Julie Gavras is also a filmmaker.
Name: Costa Gavras.
Birth name: Constantin Costa-Gavras
Born: 13 February 1933 Loutra Iraias, Greece
Constantinos Gavras (born February 13, 1933, Loutra Iraias, Greece), better
known as (Constantin) Costa-Gavras (and other variants), is a Greek-French
filmmaker best known for films with overt political themes, most famously the
dark, fast-paced thriller, Z (1969). Most of his movies were made in French;
starting with Missing (1982), several were made in English.
Costa-Gavras was born to a poor family in the village of Loutra Iraias (Λουτρά
Ηραίας), Arcadia. His family spent the Second World War in a village in the
Peloponnese, and moved to Athens after the war. His father had been a member of
the left-wing EAM branch of the Greek Resistance, and was imprisoned after the
war as a suspected communist. His father's record made it impossible for him to
attend university or emigrate to the United States, so after high school
Costa-Gavras went to France, where he began his studies of law in 1951.
In 1956, he left his university studies to study film at the French national
film school, IDHEC. After film school, he apprenticed under Yves Allegret, and
became an assistant director for Jean Giono and Rene Clair. After several
further positions as first assistant director, he directed his first feature
film, Compartiment Tueurs, in 1965.
Costa-Gavras was president of the Cinémathèque française from 1982 to 1987. He
is a first cousin of recording artist Jimmie Spheeris and filmmaker Penelope
Spheeris. His daughter Julie Gavras is also a filmmaker.