He arrived at a slow pace, a shy “good morning,” and a sincere “thank you” after applause. At 92 years old, Konstantinos Gavras – known as Costa Gavras – continues to radiate that clear calm that only those who have looked authority in the face… and photographed it. … French-Greek director who will receive Giraldillo Medal of Honor at the Seville European Film FestivalIn front of the audience sat calmly a person who does not need to prove anything: his filmography speaks for him.
Manuel Cristobal, producer and meeting director, introduced the film, recalling his youth as a cinephile: “When I started watching films, there was a name repeated in the credits: Costa-Gavras.” The man behind Z, State of Siege, Disappeared, Amen, Capital and The Last Sigh is ready to review the life that made cinema a form of consciousness. “Thank you, I am very happy to be back in Seville – He said smiling. The first time I came was in the 1960s as an assistant director. Thank you for the number of films presented by this festival. Then he added, laughing, that this would be his only intervention in Spanish: “Because he is very poor.”
For him, festivals are more than just a platform for premieres: “Festivals are very important for cinema, they allow audiences to gather around very different works. Films from the past and present are shown here, creating a connection between viewers and directors. Cinema is a party, and it is good to enjoy life through it. His voice, slow and warm, never loses the political thread. When asked about the topics he would like to address in his next film, he answered without hesitation: “There is no shortage of issues in our societywhich turns. Cinema cannot follow current events or tell them as they are. You have to have a distance, a metaphor. “That’s how I’ve always tried to make my films: to find a way to tell reality without turning it into a documentary.”
That distance—that distance between art and immediacy—has been his compass since “Z.” “Since I started filming, I agreed to do it on my terms: to have the final say on the script, casting, and post-production. I didn’t want to follow American production companies, who always want a happy ending. If I couldn’t maintain that freedom, I wouldn’t make the film.” He recalls Anaka, his least understood work, which focused on the Palestinian conflict: “No one understood this film, but We managers can take the time to analyze people’s psychological state. My films are not prophecies, they are metaphors. In Greece I learned that tragedy shows reality without showing it at all. “This is my culture.”
When asked if European and American culture were moving away from each other, he was clear: “Greek-Latin culture reminds us that politics is part of life. But politicians today are looking out for their own interests, and this is very sad. We must strengthen the European Union. Extreme policies lead countries to the worst, and every manager is free to show this as he understands it.”The reality must be told honestly, without manipulating the viewer. -He added-. In the room, the audience hears and feels the problem. It’s not about making a political speech, it’s about telling the story as one feels it. There is no absolute truth in cinema. He also talked about his relationship with actors who always prefer strangers: “I look for them to do the opposite of what they usually do. Sometimes it’s hard, but it works. I have a very creative relationship with the actors, which is key.
In an almost paternal tone, he compared his films to children’s films: “Some are successful and some are not, but you give the greatest affection to those who have not had it. “Anaka” passed without pain or glory, And I’ve always wondered why. But every film has its life. In Europe we learn to make films in this spirit. Since 2007, he has headed the French Cinematheque, a role he plays with the same passion: “It is a personal pleasure for me to open it to the public, to make it more popular. We have thousands of films, files and equipment. “It’s like a permanent festival, a film festival.”
Before bidding us farewell, he spoke about the future with ageless clarity: “European cinema must be developed further and distributed better. The Americans do it well, they put their films out there, but we have the quality. Cinema should not be a product: it is something personal, a way of looking at the world». There was some gratitude and some defiance in Costa-Gavras’s gaze, as if there were still stories to be told. Because cinema for him was never a refuge: it was always a form of resistance.
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