Costa GAVRAS

Often known only by his surname, Costa-Gavras was born in Klivia, Greece in 1933. His Russian-born father was in the Greek resistance during WWII and because of the father?s political activities, the son was blacklisted by the later Greek government. Failing to get a US visa, Costa-Gavras went to Paris to study literature and like other cinephiles in Paris at the time he frequented the influential Cin?math?que Française. After attending film school he worked with several renowned directors including Rene Clair and Jacques Demy. He directed his first feature in 1965, and his second, Shock Troops (1967), was re-edited and given a happy ending by United Artists when released in the US in 1969.

Costa-Gavras most famous film, Z (1969), was based upon a novel about the true events around the political as...