Tony Gatlif

Directing

Tony Gatlif

Born 1948-09-10 · Algiers

Gatlif was born in Algiers to a Kabyle father and a Romani mother.  After his childhood there, Gatlif arrived in France in 1960 following the Algerian War of Independence. Gatlif struggled for years to break into the film industry, playing in several theatrical productions until directing his first film, La Tête en ruine, in 1975. He followed it with the 1979 La Terre au ventre, a story of the Algerian War of Independence. Since the 1981 Corre, gitano, Gatlif's work has been focused on the Romani people of Europe, from whom he partially traces his descent. After making Gaspard et Robinson in 1990, Gatlif spent 1992 and 1993 shooting Latcho Drom, which was awarded numerous prizes. This feature-length musical film, often mislabelled as a documentary, deals with gypsy culture throughout the world around the theme of their music and dance. For Vincent Ostria, then journalist at the Cahiers du Cinéma, it was "the most genuine film of the year (1993 editor's note)." A year later, Gatlif brought the world of the author J. M. G. Le Clézio (pen-name) to the screen in Mondo (1994). His 2004 film Exils, won the Best Director Award at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.  His film Transylvania also premiered at Cannes in May 2006.

Acting credits

Les Princes poster
7.1

Nara, a 30-year-old gypsy, lives with her nine-year-old daughter Zorka and her grandmother in a public housing project in the Paris region.

Les Princes

1983

Act of Aggression poster
4.8

After his wife and daughter are raped and killed by a motorbike gang, a man sets out to take revenge.

Act of Aggression

1975

Marave poster
4.7

It follows Manolo, a gentle, naive fairground worker. When their father gets sick, Manolo reunites with his older brother Georges, a con man who abandoned the family twenty years ago. Desperate to prove he is not a failure, Georges schemes to turn the physically strong Manolo into an MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) champion.

Marave

2026

Chaplin: Spirit of the Tramp poster
10.0

A revealing exploration of Chaplin’s Romani heritage constructed from intimate interviews, film extracts, home movies and contributions from renowned contemporary Romani artists.

Chaplin: Spirit of the Tramp

2025

Canta Gitano poster
6.0

A short dance performance.

Canta Gitano

1982

Winter Song poster
6.4

Two old friends have urban adventures connected to the skull of an executed French aristocrat.

Winter Song

2015

Lulu poster
4.0

It's the beginning of the bullfighting season and all paths seem to lead from the arena straight to Lulu's bar. Lulu is radiant. When she was seventeen, and went by the name of Lucien, she headed off for more convivial surroundings.

Lulu

2002

Raging Fists poster
10.0

Tony and Nanar, two teenagers who met in reform school, are part of a gang of idle, penniless youngsters from the Paris suburbs. Together, they go to dances and plan mischief. The muse of the gang, B.B. La Brune, organizes leisure activities when she's not up to no good. Unemployed and penniless, they all dream of consumption and possession. Until the day a fight turns ugly: Tony, trying to reason with Nanar, pulls the trigger.

Raging Fists

1975

Behind the camera

Les Princes poster
7.1

Nara, a 30-year-old gypsy, lives with her nine-year-old daughter Zorka and her grandmother in a public housing project in the Paris region.

Les Princes

1983

Les Princes poster
7.1

Nara, a 30-year-old gypsy, lives with her nine-year-old daughter Zorka and her grandmother in a public housing project in the Paris region.

Les Princes

1983

I Come poster
7.0

Caco is a proud, handsome man, head of a family, and very powerful in the local community. Yet he has been torn to pieces by the death of his beloved daughter. He constantly visits her grave, weeps silently at her photo and has transferred all his wildly protective love and attention onto his mentally challenged nephew, Diego. It seems that Diego's father, Caco's brother, is in hiding after having killed a man from the Caravaca family, who are equally powerful in the community. They are looking for vengeance and have come to Caco for justice. When he refuses to betray his brother, the Caravacas grow impatient. When they realize they are getting nowhere, they threaten to kill Diego. Despite his fierce pride, Caco eventually realizes that the cycle of killing and revenge must be broken. But how can he achieve this and protect everyone he loves?

I Come

2000

I Come poster
7.0

Caco is a proud, handsome man, head of a family, and very powerful in the local community. Yet he has been torn to pieces by the death of his beloved daughter. He constantly visits her grave, weeps silently at her photo and has transferred all his wildly protective love and attention onto his mentally challenged nephew, Diego. It seems that Diego's father, Caco's brother, is in hiding after having killed a man from the Caravaca family, who are equally powerful in the community. They are looking for vengeance and have come to Caco for justice. When he refuses to betray his brother, the Caravacas grow impatient. When they realize they are getting nowhere, they threaten to kill Diego. Despite his fierce pride, Caco eventually realizes that the cycle of killing and revenge must be broken. But how can he achieve this and protect everyone he loves?

I Come

2000

I Come poster
7.0

Caco is a proud, handsome man, head of a family, and very powerful in the local community. Yet he has been torn to pieces by the death of his beloved daughter. He constantly visits her grave, weeps silently at her photo and has transferred all his wildly protective love and attention onto his mentally challenged nephew, Diego. It seems that Diego's father, Caco's brother, is in hiding after having killed a man from the Caravaca family, who are equally powerful in the community. They are looking for vengeance and have come to Caco for justice. When he refuses to betray his brother, the Caravacas grow impatient. When they realize they are getting nowhere, they threaten to kill Diego. Despite his fierce pride, Caco eventually realizes that the cycle of killing and revenge must be broken. But how can he achieve this and protect everyone he loves?

I Come

2000

The Crazy Stranger poster
7.4

A man is looking for a singer he had heard on cassette. He finds much more.

The Crazy Stranger

1998

The Crazy Stranger poster
7.4

A man is looking for a singer he had heard on cassette. He finds much more.

The Crazy Stranger

1998

Journey from Greece poster
6.2

Djam, a young Greek woman, is sent to Istanbul by her uncle Kakourgos, a former sailor with a passion for Rebetiko, to find a rare part that will repair their boat. In Istanbul, she encounters Avril, a nineteen-year-old French girl, alone and without any money, who came to Turkey as a voluntary worker with refugees. Djam, generous, cheeky, unpredictable, and free-spirited, takes Avril under her wing on the way to Mytilene. A journey filled with encounters, music, sharing, and hope.

Journey from Greece

2017

Journey from Greece poster
6.2

Djam, a young Greek woman, is sent to Istanbul by her uncle Kakourgos, a former sailor with a passion for Rebetiko, to find a rare part that will repair their boat. In Istanbul, she encounters Avril, a nineteen-year-old French girl, alone and without any money, who came to Turkey as a voluntary worker with refugees. Djam, generous, cheeky, unpredictable, and free-spirited, takes Avril under her wing on the way to Mytilene. A journey filled with encounters, music, sharing, and hope.

Journey from Greece

2017

Swing poster
7.2

In a suburb of Strasbourg, Alsace, France, ten year old boy, Max, spends his summer vacation with his grandmother. He hears Manouche gypsy Romani music being played in a local bar, and loves it. He goes to visit the gypsies in search of a guitar, where he meets a young Romani tomboy, 'Swing'. She introduces Max to her gypsy community who live in caravans and down-at-heel public housing. Over several days, Max is taken into the community to witness Romani lifestyle, traditions, knowledge of plants, and particularly their Manouche music. Max is particularly fascinated by Miraldo, the Romani guitarist he first heard in the bar, and asks to take guitar lessons with him (Miraldo is played by one of the greatest guitarists of gypsy jazz, Tchavolo Schmitt).

Swing

2002

Swing poster
7.2

In a suburb of Strasbourg, Alsace, France, ten year old boy, Max, spends his summer vacation with his grandmother. He hears Manouche gypsy Romani music being played in a local bar, and loves it. He goes to visit the gypsies in search of a guitar, where he meets a young Romani tomboy, 'Swing'. She introduces Max to her gypsy community who live in caravans and down-at-heel public housing. Over several days, Max is taken into the community to witness Romani lifestyle, traditions, knowledge of plants, and particularly their Manouche music. Max is particularly fascinated by Miraldo, the Romani guitarist he first heard in the bar, and asks to take guitar lessons with him (Miraldo is played by one of the greatest guitarists of gypsy jazz, Tchavolo Schmitt).

Swing

2002

Swing poster
7.2

In a suburb of Strasbourg, Alsace, France, ten year old boy, Max, spends his summer vacation with his grandmother. He hears Manouche gypsy Romani music being played in a local bar, and loves it. He goes to visit the gypsies in search of a guitar, where he meets a young Romani tomboy, 'Swing'. She introduces Max to her gypsy community who live in caravans and down-at-heel public housing. Over several days, Max is taken into the community to witness Romani lifestyle, traditions, knowledge of plants, and particularly their Manouche music. Max is particularly fascinated by Miraldo, the Romani guitarist he first heard in the bar, and asks to take guitar lessons with him (Miraldo is played by one of the greatest guitarists of gypsy jazz, Tchavolo Schmitt).

Swing

2002

Freedom poster
6.5

A Gypsy family travels the French roads during the Second World War, followed by Little Claude, a young boy seeking a new family after his parents "left and never returned". Upon reaching a town where they traditionally stop for a few months and work in vineyards, they learn that a new law forbids them from being nomadic. Theodore, the town's mayor, and Miss Lundi, the schoolteacher, protect and help the Gypsies. Despite this, They are arrested and placed in an internment camp. Theodore manages to rescue them and gives them a piece of property where they must settle. But the Gypsies' deeply ingrained thirst for freedom makes this sedentary lifestyle difficult to bear. After Theodore and Miss Lundi are arrested for resistance, the Gypsies decide they must get back on the move in order to remain free.

Freedom

2009

Freedom poster
6.5

A Gypsy family travels the French roads during the Second World War, followed by Little Claude, a young boy seeking a new family after his parents "left and never returned". Upon reaching a town where they traditionally stop for a few months and work in vineyards, they learn that a new law forbids them from being nomadic. Theodore, the town's mayor, and Miss Lundi, the schoolteacher, protect and help the Gypsies. Despite this, They are arrested and placed in an internment camp. Theodore manages to rescue them and gives them a piece of property where they must settle. But the Gypsies' deeply ingrained thirst for freedom makes this sedentary lifestyle difficult to bear. After Theodore and Miss Lundi are arrested for resistance, the Gypsies decide they must get back on the move in order to remain free.

Freedom

2009

Freedom poster
6.5

A Gypsy family travels the French roads during the Second World War, followed by Little Claude, a young boy seeking a new family after his parents "left and never returned". Upon reaching a town where they traditionally stop for a few months and work in vineyards, they learn that a new law forbids them from being nomadic. Theodore, the town's mayor, and Miss Lundi, the schoolteacher, protect and help the Gypsies. Despite this, They are arrested and placed in an internment camp. Theodore manages to rescue them and gives them a piece of property where they must settle. But the Gypsies' deeply ingrained thirst for freedom makes this sedentary lifestyle difficult to bear. After Theodore and Miss Lundi are arrested for resistance, the Gypsies decide they must get back on the move in order to remain free.

Freedom

2009

Corre, gitano poster
5.0

A teenager of gypsy race is accused of a crime he has not committed. For that reason, he decides to flee without truce until he reaches the coast. During his journey, he does not stop dancing.

Corre, gitano

1982

Corre, gitano poster
5.0

A teenager of gypsy race is accused of a crime he has not committed. For that reason, he decides to flee without truce until he reaches the coast. During his journey, he does not stop dancing.

Corre, gitano

1982

Exiles poster
6.1

One day Zano suggest a crazy idea to his companion Naïma: travel across France and Spain down to Algeria, where they might ultimately come to know the land their parents once had to flee.

Exiles

2004

Exiles poster
6.1

One day Zano suggest a crazy idea to his companion Naïma: travel across France and Spain down to Algeria, where they might ultimately come to know the land their parents once had to flee.

Exiles

2004

Exiles poster
6.1

One day Zano suggest a crazy idea to his companion Naïma: travel across France and Spain down to Algeria, where they might ultimately come to know the land their parents once had to flee.

Exiles

2004

Canta Gitano poster
6.0

A short dance performance.

Canta Gitano

1982

Canta Gitano poster
6.0

A short dance performance.

Canta Gitano

1982

Mondo poster
7.1

Mondo, a young orphaned gypsy, finds himself in France, where he scouts out potential foster families, evades the police and meets an assortment of eccentric people. In his travels, Mondo first encounters a magician who takes on the boy as an assistant. Then he moves on again, eventually befriending Dadi, a street-smart vagrant, and Giordan, a wise fisherman. All the while, the boy keeps an eye out for would-be parents.

Mondo

1995

Mondo poster
7.1

Mondo, a young orphaned gypsy, finds himself in France, where he scouts out potential foster families, evades the police and meets an assortment of eccentric people. In his travels, Mondo first encounters a magician who takes on the boy as an assistant. Then he moves on again, eventually befriending Dadi, a street-smart vagrant, and Giordan, a wise fisherman. All the while, the boy keeps an eye out for would-be parents.

Mondo

1995