Gatlif, Tony

(1948- )

   Actor, composer, director, producer, and screenwriter. Tony Gatlif was born Michel Dahamani in Algeria. He is of gypsy origin. He moved to France in 1960, where he studied drama and, like many directors of the period, attended ciné-clubs. He debuted in cinema in the mid-1970s, and his first feature was La tête en ruines (1975). He also worked as an actor and screenwriter for Eric Le Hung's 1975 La rage au poing (1975). In 1979, he released La Terre au ventre, a feature film set during the Algerian War. His gypsy heritage and his transnationality have influenced several of his films, including the short Corre gitano (1982), the documentary Latcho drom (1993), and the features Mondo (1996), Gadjo Dilo (1997), and Exils (2004). While he often works with nonprofessional actors, Gatlif has directed several French stars. He directed Gérard Depardieu in Rue du départ (1986), Fanny Ardant in Pleure pas, my love (1987), and Vincent Lindon in Gaspard et Robinson (1990).

   As noted, many of Gatlif's films have centered on gypsy music, gypsy culture, and the social position of gypsies as outside of every culture in which they find themselves. Through these films, Gatlif illuminates historic and contemporary struggles with discrimination and persecution. Les Princes (1983), the first in Gatlif's "gypsy trilogy," exposes the hardships faced by gypsy communities in Parisian suburbs. Latcho Drom, the second work in the trilogy, portrays diasporic gypsies in India, Egypt, and Europe. The documentary is unique in its foregrounding of music and its absence of voice-over narration. It won the Un Certain Regard Award at the Cannes International Film Festival. The third part of the trilogy, Gadjo Dilo, a feature that offers a critical look at European commodification of Roma culture and the violent treatment of gypsies in Romania, won a Silver Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival. It stars Romain Duris, who also appeared in Gatlif's Je suis né d'une cigogne (1999) and Exils. Although not considered part of his trilogy, Mondo focuses on a homeless gypsy child in Southern France. Gatlif's Swing (2002) revisits Gadjo Dilo's story of a French protagonist who is fascinated with gypsy music; however, in this film, the focus is the Manouche in France.

   Gatlif has won prestigious awards for his music: both Gadjo Dilo and Vengo (2000), a drama about flamenco, won César Awards for Best Musical Composition. In 2004, Gatlif won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival for Exils. Like his previous films, Exils contemplates experiences of exile and nomadism as it narrates the journey of protagonists who travel from France to Algeria to discover part of their heritage. Gatlif has been praised by critics across cultures for his sensitive and affectionate portrayals of gypsies and his moving celebrations of cosmopolitan gypsy music.

   Historical Dictionary of French Cinema by Dayna Oscherwitz & Mary Ellen Higgins