"Tony Gatlif loved backroads and disappearing borders," wrote on X the French culture minister in her tribute to the filmmaker behind 25 films.
The filmmaker died after suffering a medical problem while he was working in Arles, in the south of France, on a historical film project
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Culture minister Catherine Pégard paid tribute to him, saying in a tweet that he had "a taste for side roads, for borders that fade away, for lives we pay too little attention to."
Tony Gatlif made 25 films, including "Gadjo Dilo" starring Romain Duris (1997) and "Exils" (2004, best director award at Cannes).
The filmmaker was fond of social stories and Gypsy culture. His films are notably infused with flamenco and Gypsy music.
Tony Gatlif was born as Michel Dahamani on 10 September 1948, to a Kabyle father and a Gypsy mother.
During a police check, when he was about twelve, he decided to change his name to avoid being sent back to Algeria. He chose Gatlif, the name of a green space in Algiers.
After a spell in a reform school, he was sent back to the Camargue.
"I fought a battle against my destiny, against myself, and that is no small thing," he told AFP in 2021. "From the moment I set foot in the Camargue, I began to listen, and that has to do with the respect with which people spoke to me, without prejudice," he added.
