Born Konstantinos Gavras in Loutra-Iraias, Greece, in 1933, Costa-Gavras moved to Paris as a student and studied at the film school IDHEC. He is best known for political thrillers, made with great dramatic momentum, which expose the abuses of power in dictatorships and democracies. Z (1969), a fictionalised account of the 1963 murder of a Greek politician, won an Oscar for best foreign language film. The Confession, State of Siege, Missing (1982), which won the Palme d'Or, and Music Box (1989), which won the Golden Bear, followed. He has also been head of the Cinémathèque Française.
Filmography
- The Sleeping Car Murders (1965)
- Z (1969)
- The Confession (1970)
- State of Siege (1972)
- Special Section (1975)
- Missing (1982)
- Hanna K. (1983)
- Betrayed (1988)
- Music Box (1989)
- Amen. (2002)
- The Axe (2005)
- Capital (2012)
- Adults in the Room (2019)