French-Algerian film director Tony Gatlif dies at 77 in southern France

Passing in southern France

French filmmaker Tony Gatlif died at the age of 77 in Arles, located in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of southern France. His family announced his death on Friday to AFP, confirming that he succumbed to a health issue while preparing a historical film project in Provence. In a public message, his wife, children, and grandchildren wished him "Latcho Drom", a Romani greeting translating to safe journey that also titled his acclaimed 1993 documentary. Gatlif produced and directed 25 feature films across his career, frequently focusing on Roma identity, social conditions, and traditional music.

Following the announcement, French Minister of Culture Catherine Pégard paid tribute to Gatlif on social media.

Tony Gatlif had a fondness for the road less travelled, for blurring borders, and for lives that too often go unnoticed. He filmed music, movement, exile, and freedom with an energy that was uniquely his own.

Algerian roots and youth in Camargue

Gatlif was born Michel Dahmani on 10 September 1948 in Algiers to a Kabyle father and a Roma mother of Andalusian descent. He spent his early childhood on the outskirts of Algiers during the Algerian War of Independence before travelling to France in 1960 at age 12. During a police identity check in France, he adopted the surname Gatlif from a public park in Algiers to avoid deportation. After spending time in a juvenile detention centre, a court decision transferred him to the Camargue region in southern France.

Living in the Camargue connected Gatlif with local Roma communities and shifted the course of his youth. Three years later, he discovered the performing arts through French actor Michel Simon. Speaking to AFP in a 2021 interview, Gatlif described the influence of that period on his life.

I used to be violent; you didn't want to mess with me; I was a bad kid. I wouldn't listen to anyone; to me, adults, everyone, were enemies. From the moment I set foot in the Camargue, I began to listen, and that was due to the respect with which people spoke to me, without prejudice.

Festival awards and musical cinema

Gatlif made his directorial debut in 1975 with La tête en ruines, followed by the 1982 Spanish film Corre, gitano, which dramatised the wrongful accusation of a young Roma man. He gained wider international notice in 1993 with Latcho Drom, a documentary following Roma musical migration from India across Egypt and Europe, which earned the Un Certain Regard prize at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1997, he directed Gadjo Dilo, set and filmed in Romania, starring Romain Duris and actress Rona Hartner. The film won the Silver Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival and a César Award for best original music.

In 2004, Gatlif received the Best Director prize at Cannes for Exils, a semi-autobiographical production also starring Duris. His filmography continued to centre on regional music traditions, incorporating Spanish flamenco in Vengo (2000) and Greek-Turkish rebetiko in Djam (2017). His final feature film, Ange, reached cinemas in 2025.