Abdellatif Kechiche

07.12.1960, Tunisia

 

Director
Photo: Georges Biard (CC BY-SA 3.0)
French actor, director and screenwriter. He grew up in Nice after his family immigrated to France from Tunisia in 1966. He started his film career as an actor in the 1980s, and has starred in eight films so far. It's worth mentioning his last film Sorry, Haters (2005) by Jeff Stanzler, where he played together with Robin Wright. He has worked in theatre for a while, and his debut as a director and screenwriter was La faute à Voltaire (Blame it on Voltaire, 2000), which brought him a CinemAvvenire, and Luigi De Laurentiis Award for best debutant at Venice Festival in 2000. This was followed by L’esquive (Games of Love and Chance, 2004), earning him three Césars: for best film, best director and best script. Lead actress Sara Forestier was awarded as the best newcomer. Due to attending festivals and receiving awards, Kechiche has become recognized internationally. For The Secret of the Grain (La graine et le mulet, 2007) he received a César Award in all categories as his previous film (this time acting debutant is Hafsia Herzi), FIPRESCI Award at Venice Festival and many more. BY then he was already know for his long scenes, close-ups and working with amateur actors. The following year he works with Hafsia Herzi on his medium-length Sueur (2008). Two years later he made a feature-length film Black Venus (Vénus noire, 2010) a historical drama about a South African slave Saartjie 'Sarah' Baartman who is a victim of racism and sexism as her masters show her around like an exhibit in 19th century Europe. In 2013 he made his last and best known film Blue is the Warmest Colour (La vie d'Adèle, 2013). The crew criticised the director and conditions of filming, and after it was finished lead actresses Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos said that Kechiche was an excellent director, but difficult to work with, and they did not want to repeat the experience. The film was exceptionally successful with the audience and the critics, receiving many awards such as Palme d'Or (given to the director, as well as the main actresses for the first time), and a FIPRESCI Award in Cannes in 2013.

Filmography

Blue is the Warmest Colour (La vie d'Adèle, 2013)
Black Venus (Vénus noire, 2010)
Sueur (2008) (short)
The Secret of the Grain (La graine et le mulet, 2007)
The Game of Love and Chance (L'esquive, 2003)
Blame it on Voltaire (La faute à Voltaire, 2000)


Related texts

A stream of words and eros

Films by this director

The Secret of the Grain

(La graine et le mulet, 2007)

Directed by: Abdellatif Kechiche
PHOTOGRAPHY: Lubomir Bakchev
Synopsis:

The film follows the life of an Arab family living in a port town in the south of France. The head of the family is Mr. Slimane, a tired sixty-year-old employed in the shipyard, whose dream is to open a restaurant on the water. Although divorced, he tries to maintain a relationship with his children, and the idea of ​​opening a restaurant unites the whole family.

color, 35 mm, 151 min

The Games of Love and Chance

(L'esquive, France, 2003)

Directed by: Abdellatif Kechiche
PHOTOGRAPHY: Lubomir Bakchev
Synopsis:

Krimo is nice but shy, quiet and reserved fifteen-year-old. He is in love with the extrovert peer Lydia who has the lead role in the school play. It is an adaptation of a classic from the 18th century, and Krimo joins the project to get closer to Lydia. Although his peers are suspicious of his ability, Krimo decides to try and rehearse the lead male role and thus overcomes his own insecurity, and seduce Lydia.

color, 123'

Blame it on Voltaire

(La faute à Voltaire, 2000.)

Directed by: Abdellatif Kechiche
PHOTOGRAPHY: Dominique Brenguier, Marie Spencer
Synopsis:

Hoping for a better life, a young Tunisian Jallel arrives to Paris. In order to obtain a residence permit, he lied about being a refugee from Algeria, but since he has no required documents his life is not easy. He sleeps in shelters for refugees, earns money illegally by selling fruit and slowly finds friends among the unemployed French and descendants of immigrants around him.

color, 35 mm, 130 min

Blue is the Warmest Colour

(La vie d'Adèle, France, Belgium, Spain, 2013)

Directed by: Abdellatif Kechiche
PHOTOGRAPHY: Sofian El Fani
Synopsis:

A high school girl Adele sees a blonde girl in passing one day and she immediately catches the eye. Although she doesn't know who she is, the more she think about she, the more she fascinated she is. While her school friends constantly talk about boys, her brief encounter with a young man did not impress her. When by chance she meets the blonde girl, Emma, the two instantly became friends. Realizing that she is attracted to Emma, Adèle opens up to her and they start a relationship.

color, 180'
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