Franco-Greek filmmaker Costa-Gavras has been watching the country of his birth lurch through its crisis of recent years with a mixture of anxiety
Franco-Greek filmmaker Costa-Gavras has been watching the country of his birth lurch through its crisis of recent years with a mixture of anxiety, empathy and pride.
Who is Costa Gavras?
- Costa-Gavras is a Greek-French film director
- Born in Greece in 1933 he went to Paris in 1951 his studies
- His films often deal with political themes
- He has won many prestigious awards for his film making
- Costa-Gavras has become a vocal supporter of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras
The drama that has unfolded in Greece could have been the inspiration for one of his taut, allegorical political thrillers. But, unlike his response to the 1974 Greek military coup that led him to make his breakthrough masterpiece, Z, he has no plans to reflect current events in Greece on screen.
That, however, does not mean he has been unmoved by the plight of his people, as Isabelle Kumar found out when she spoke at length to him in Paris, where he has lived for decades.
In this edition of Global Conversation the Greek director, an icon of activist cinema, reveals his admiration for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who he sees as taking a lone and heroic stance against Europe’s political establishment in Brussels. He also explains his views on Europe and what he sees as the divisions eating at the heart of the European project, and lashes out at the political and financial elite he blames for leading Greece to the edge of an abyss.
He also answers questions on a range of themes from Euronews’ online viewers.
Click on the video to see the interview in full.