Abdellatif Kechiche

Directing

Abdellatif Kechiche

Born 1960-12-07 · Tunis, Tunisia

Abdellatif Kechiche is a Franco-Tunisian actor, screenwriter, and director born on December 7, 1960, in Tunis, Tunisia. He moved to France as a child and began his career as an actor before turning to directing. He gained recognition with films praised for their realism, dialogue, and direction of actors, notably L'Esquive and La Graine et le Mulet, for which he won four César Awards each, and La Vie d'Adèle, the film that earned him the prestigious Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. He recently released Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due, the final installment of a trilogy and possibly his last film, as he suffered a stroke in 2025, which significantly curtailed his work. His films often explore human relationships, questions of identity, working-class communities, and the journey toward integration. His work has received numerous awards, though it has also occasionally sparked controversy regarding his filming methods.

Acting credits

Sorry, Haters poster
5.6

Against the anxieties and fears of post-9/11 America, an Arab cab driver picks up a troubled professional woman with unexpected results.

Sorry, Haters

2005

Vittorio D. poster
6.3

A documentary about Vittorio de Sica with clips of his films and testimonials from friends and family.

Vittorio D.

2009

Marteau Rouge poster
NR

An old rocker starts a tour in the south of France, hitting the road in his old truck with two young men who are his opening act. Along the way, he stops to pick up hitchhikers...

Marteau Rouge

1996

A Vampire in Paradise poster
5.5

Is Nosfer Arbi a vampire? Or is he just a very emaciated, very strange and possibly quite lonely young man from an Arabic country with an obsession with death? On the other hand, why is the previously cheery Parisian teenager Nathalie Belfond throwing fits and speaking in Arabic? Her strange behavior began with the appearance of a caped and cadaverous man outside her window. Mr. & Mrs. Belfond have their hands full trying to sort this mess out, in this extremely unusual and award-winning comedy which puts a new wrinkle on the vampire mythos.

A Vampire in Paradise

1992

The Innocents poster
5.1

A woman becomes trapped in the middle of a feud between two men while attempting to free her younger brother from a life of petty crime.

The Innocents

1987

No artwork available
NR

An abusive mother. He never spoke. A tense relationship. An ambiguous outcome.

Mutisme

1987

Mint Tea poster
5.7

A young Algerian in Paris has not been as successful as he claims in letters home, and when his mother unexpectedly arrives for a visit of several months, he is hard put to hide his circumstances -- and the fact that he has resorted to small-time criminal activity to support himself. His mother disembarks in her traditional attire, a warm-hearted woman who does not have a clue as to how this foreign society functions but also has absolutely no inhibitions about finding out, if the need arises. As the story progresses, the mother catches on to her son's circumstances though the two are still not able to confront the deception and right it. Even with a low budget, this first-time feature-length story by Bahloul Bahloul combines satire, comedy, and pathos to bring home a relationship between mother and son that transcends life's many obstacles.

Mint Tea

1984

Bezness poster
4.3

Fred, a photographer, is in Tunisia to report on the « Bezness » (male prostitutes). Thanks to Roufa, Fred will discover this surprising environment where young men are confronted with the contradictions between tradition and modernity.

Bezness

1992

The Secret of Polichinelle poster
8.0

After a New Year's Eve party, 30-year-old fashion designer Rebecca (Nathalie Schmidt) awakens alone in a strange automobile. Later, during a routine visit to her gynecologist, she learns that she's pregnant. Unable to recall anyone responsible, she attempts to find the father as she treks through Paris streets, quizzes her girlfriends, and visits a Belgian detective. With few leads, her search drags on for months.

The Secret of Polichinelle

1997

The Magic Box poster
3.7

Over forty and in a bit of a midlife crisis, Tunisian film director Raouf is prone to excessive drinking when not engaged in an argument with his French-born wife Lou (Marianne Basler). One respite to Raouf's dreary life is a recent film assignment -- to shoot an autobiographical film about his childhood. While working on the script, Raouf recalls his childhood home life under the strictures instituted by his devoutly religious father. The polar opposite of Raouf's father was his uncle Mansour, a jolly, life-loving soul who introduced Raouf to cinema through his work as a wandering film projectionist, which angered and shocked his father to no end but proved to be the most pivotal development in the youngster's life. Through cinema, Raouf found his place in this world and came-of-age -- something he may have to revisit in his adult life if he wishes to salvage his marriage.

The Magic Box

2003

Behind the camera

Blue Is the Warmest Color poster
7.1

Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself, finds herself.

Blue Is the Warmest Color

2013

Blue Is the Warmest Color poster
7.1

Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself, finds herself.

Blue Is the Warmest Color

2013

Blue Is the Warmest Color poster
7.1

Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself, finds herself.

Blue Is the Warmest Color

2013

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno poster
6.7

Amin, an aspiring screenwriter living in Paris, returns home for the summer, in Sète, South of France. It is a time of reconnecting with his family and his childhood friends. Together with his cousin Tony and his best friend Ophélie, he spends his time between the Tunisian restaurant run by his parents, the local bars and the beaches frequented by girls on holiday.

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno

2018

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno poster
6.7

Amin, an aspiring screenwriter living in Paris, returns home for the summer, in Sète, South of France. It is a time of reconnecting with his family and his childhood friends. Together with his cousin Tony and his best friend Ophélie, he spends his time between the Tunisian restaurant run by his parents, the local bars and the beaches frequented by girls on holiday.

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno

2018

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno poster
6.7

Amin, an aspiring screenwriter living in Paris, returns home for the summer, in Sète, South of France. It is a time of reconnecting with his family and his childhood friends. Together with his cousin Tony and his best friend Ophélie, he spends his time between the Tunisian restaurant run by his parents, the local bars and the beaches frequented by girls on holiday.

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno

2018

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due poster
6.2

Amin returns to Sète after studying in Paris, still dreaming of cinema. By chance, an American producer on vacation takes an interest in his project and wants his wife, Jess, to play the lead role. But fate, whimsical as ever, has its own rules.

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due

2025

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due poster
6.2

Amin returns to Sète after studying in Paris, still dreaming of cinema. By chance, an American producer on vacation takes an interest in his project and wants his wife, Jess, to play the lead role. But fate, whimsical as ever, has its own rules.

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due

2025

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due poster
6.2

Amin returns to Sète after studying in Paris, still dreaming of cinema. By chance, an American producer on vacation takes an interest in his project and wants his wife, Jess, to play the lead role. But fate, whimsical as ever, has its own rules.

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due

2025

The Secret of the Grain poster
7.0

In southern France, a Franco-Arabic shipyard worker along with his partner's daughter pursues his dream of opening a restaurant.

The Secret of the Grain

2007

The Secret of the Grain poster
7.0

In southern France, a Franco-Arabic shipyard worker along with his partner's daughter pursues his dream of opening a restaurant.

The Secret of the Grain

2007

Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo poster
4.4

Summer is coming to an end, Amin and his friends meet Marie, a young parisian student.

Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo

2019

Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo poster
4.4

Summer is coming to an end, Amin and his friends meet Marie, a young parisian student.

Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo

2019

Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo poster
4.4

Summer is coming to an end, Amin and his friends meet Marie, a young parisian student.

Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo

2019

Black Venus poster
6.5

The true story of Saartje Baartman, a black South African worker who moves to London with her master in the early 19th century. Although she dreams of being an artist, once in Europe she is exploited as a sideshow attraction due to her large buttocks and genitalia.

Black Venus

2010

Black Venus poster
6.5

The true story of Saartje Baartman, a black South African worker who moves to London with her master in the early 19th century. Although she dreams of being an artist, once in Europe she is exploited as a sideshow attraction due to her large buttocks and genitalia.

Black Venus

2010

Sueur poster
7.5

Reedit of the last sequence of The Secret of the Grain, turned into a 43-minute medium-length film, in which Rym sings and performs her famous belly dance, accompanied by the music band, as they all heat up the euphoric restaurant crowd.

Sueur

2008

Sueur poster
7.5

Reedit of the last sequence of The Secret of the Grain, turned into a 43-minute medium-length film, in which Rym sings and performs her famous belly dance, accompanied by the music band, as they all heat up the euphoric restaurant crowd.

Sueur

2008

Poetical Refugee poster
6.6

Like a Candide dreaming of Eldorado, Jallel lands in France, hoping to try his luck. From encounter to encounter, hostel to social welfare group, Jallel will make his way through a Paris of outcasts. Although failing to achieve his hopes, he discovers and shares in the solidarity felt by the destitute.

Poetical Refugee

2001

Poetical Refugee poster
6.6

Like a Candide dreaming of Eldorado, Jallel lands in France, hoping to try his luck. From encounter to encounter, hostel to social welfare group, Jallel will make his way through a Paris of outcasts. Although failing to achieve his hopes, he discovers and shares in the solidarity felt by the destitute.

Poetical Refugee

2001

Games of Love and Chance poster
6.7

A group of teenagers living in a housing project in the outskirts of Paris rehearse a scene from Marivaux's play of the same name. Krimo is determined not to take part, but after developing feelings for Lydia, he quickly assumes the main role and love interest in the play.

Games of Love and Chance

2003

Games of Love and Chance poster
6.7

A group of teenagers living in a housing project in the outskirts of Paris rehearse a scene from Marivaux's play of the same name. Krimo is determined not to take part, but after developing feelings for Lydia, he quickly assumes the main role and love interest in the play.

Games of Love and Chance

2003