Tony Gatlif (born as Michel Dahmani on 10 September 1948 in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

) is a French

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

of Romani ethnicity who also works as a

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

, and producer.

Personal

Gatlif was born in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

of Pied noir ancestry. After his childhood there, Gatlif arrived in France in 1960 following the

Algerian War of Independence The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

Career

Gatlif struggled for years to break into the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

industry, playing in several theatrical productions until directing his first film, ''La Tête en ruine'', in 1975. He followed it with the 1979 ''La Terre au ventre'', a story of the Algerian War of Independence. Since the 1981 film ''Corre, gitano'', Gatlif's work has been focused on the

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic Itinerant groups in Europe, itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have Ro ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, from whom he partially traces his descent. After making ''Gaspard et Robinson'' in 1990, Gatlif spent 1992 and 1993 shooting '' Latcho Drom'', which was awarded numerous prizes. This feature-length musical film, often mislabelled as a documentary, deals with gypsy culture throughout the world around the theme of their music and dance. For Vincent Ostria, then journalist at the Cahiers du Cinéma, it was "the most genuine film of the year (1993 editor's note)." A year later, Gatlif brought the world of the author J. M. G. Le Clézio to the screen in ''Mondo'' (1994). His 2004 film ''Exils'', won the Best Director Award at the

2004 Cannes Film Festival The 57th Cannes Film Festival started on 12 and ran until 23 May 2004. The Palme d'Or went to the American film ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' by Michael Moore. The festival opened with '' La mala educación'', directed by Pedro Almodóvar and closed with ...

. His film ''

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...

'' also premiered at

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...

in May 2006.

Filmography

Screenwriter

* '' La Rage au poing'' (1975)

Director and screenwriter

* ''La Tête en ruine'' (1975) * ''La Terre au ventre'' (1978) * ''Corre gitano'' (1981) * ''Canta gitano'' (1981) * '' Les Princes'' (1982) * ''Rue du départ'' (1985) * ''Pleure pas my love'' (1989) * ''Gaspard et Robinson'' (1990) * '' Latcho Drom'' (1993) * '' Mondo'' (1995) * '' Gadjo dilo'' (1997) * ''

Je suis né d'une cigogne ''Je suis né d'une cigogne'' ( en, Children of the Stork) is a 1999 French road movie directed by Tony Gatlif, starring Romain Duris, Rona Hartner, Ouassini Embarek, Christine Pignet and Marc Nouyrigat. Following its French release, it receive ...

'' (1998) * '' Vengo'' (2000) * ''

Swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing ri ...

'' (2001) * '' Exils'' (2004) * ''

'' (2006) * ''

Korkoro ''Korkoro'' ("Alone" in Romani) is a 2009 French drama film written and directed by Tony Gatlif, starring Francophone actors Marc Lavoine, Marie-Josée Croze and James Thiérrée. The film's cast were of many nationalities such as Albanian, K ...

'' (2009) * ''Indignados'' (2012) * ''

Geronimo Geronimo ( apm, Goyaałé, , ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache b ...

'' (2014) * '' Djam'' (2017) * ''Tom Medina'' (2021)

References

* This article is based on a translation of the corresponding article from the French Wikipedia, retrieved on July 17, 2005.

External links

*
Interview (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gatlif, Tony 1948 births Living people French film directors Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners Georges Delerue Award winners Algerian emigrants to France French people of Kabyle descent Romani film directors French Romani people People from Algiers Kabyle people French male stage actors French male film actors Romani in Algeria