Costa-Gavras grew up in Greece, before moving to France, where he studied literature at the Sorbonne and later film at the Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques (IDHEC). He began his career in cinema as an assistant director working with established filmmakers including René Clair and René Clément. His first feature, Mord im Fahrpreis inbegriffen (1965), was followed by Z: Anatomie eines politischen Mordes (1969), which brought him international acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He went on to direct a series of politically engaged films such as Der unsichtbare Aufstand (1972), Vermisst (1982), and Der Stellvertreter (2002), often examining themes of power, oppression, and human rights. Alongside his filmmaking, he served as president of the Cinémathèque Française and received numerous international awards for his contributions to cinema.
