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A film-maker with strong convictions

The French filmmaker of Greek origin Costa-Gavras (Konstantinos Gavrá) is the winner of the XXIX Catalonia International Prize, the first film director to receive the prize. The jury praised the quality of his “extensive” and “intensive” films and the critical view of the world and for his “social commitment”. President of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont, stressed that Costa-Gavras films have become “symbols” against intolerance, repression and the lack of freedom. A total of 141 candidates from 57 countries competed for the prize, which will be awarded on July 17 at a ceremony in the Palou de la Gernalitat.

Born in Athens in 1933, Costa-Gavras made his debut as a director in 1965 with Compartiment Tueurs, starring Yves Montand and his friends Simone Signoret. In 1969 Z, which reconstructed the murder of a left-wing political activist at the hands of the police, became the paradigm of political cinema. The filmmaker has dedicated his work to denouncing social and political injustice throughout the world at the hands of repressive regimes and has spared few, from the USSR to the USA, Chile, Uruguay, fascism and the extreme right in the United States, as well as the relationship between the Catholic church and repressive regimes world wide.

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