The french director was on the stage of the Petruzzelli Theatre for a fascinating one hour discussion with french critic Michel Ciment before a few minutes of question and answer from the (very large) public audience. From his childhood in Greece to his arrival in France when he was 20 years old; from his first steps as a 2nd assistant (for Jean Giono, René Clair and René Clément…) to his directorial debuts (“The Sleeping Car Murder/Compartiment tueurs”, 1965), he made a simple but very human explanation of his learning years. Interested in the world, he explained the politics he was discussing with friends Simone Signoret, Yves Montand and Jorge Semprun, and the topics he chose to tell and to show in his films, like the Colonels in Greece in “Z”, 1969, which became a mondial success; and the disapperance of a committed writer in 1970s Chile and the journey of a conservative father to approach this reality in the Palme d’Or Winner, “Missing” (1982)… Of his 18 movies, he said, “I’m not making a career, I’m shooting films. Each one comes from a passion. And each one is different.”
MasterClass Costa-Gavras: Bari, Teatro Petruzzelli, March 23, 2015.