Abdellatif Kechiche facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Abdellatif Kechiche
عبد اللطيف كشيش
Kechiche at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
Born	(1960-12-07) 7 December 1960 (age 64) Tunis, Tunisia
Nationality	Tunisian, French
Occupation	Actor, film director, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1982–present
Notable work	Blue Is the Warmest Colour

Abdellatif Kechiche (born 7 December 1960) is a filmmaker, producer, and actor from Tunisia and France. He is known for his realistic style in movies.

He has won many awards, including the César Award for Best Film for Games of Love and Chance (2003) and The Secret of the Grain (2007). He also won the top award, the Palme d'Or, at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival for his film Blue Is the Warmest Colour.

Early Life

Abdellatif Kechiche was born in Tunis, Tunisia. When he was six years old, he moved to Nice, France, with his parents. He loved theater and took acting classes. He performed in many plays, including one by Federico García Lorca in 1978. He also directed plays, like "The Architect" at the Avignon Festival in 1981.

Career Highlights

Early Acting Roles

Kechiche started acting in films. His first movie role was in "Mint Tea," where he played a young Algerian immigrant. In 1987, he acted in The Innocents. He also won the best male actor award at the Namur Festival in 1992 for his role in the film Bezness.

Directing Success

In 2003, Kechiche wrote and directed Games of Love and Chance (L’Esquive). He used amateur actors and a small budget for this film. It was about high school students in Paris who were practicing a play for their French class. Critics loved the film, and it won four awards at the 30th César Awards in 2005. These awards included Best Film, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.

As an actor, many English-speaking audiences saw him in the 2005 movie Sorry, Haters. He played a taxi driver named Ashade Mouhana in this film.

He then directed The Secret of the Grain (La Graine et le mulet) in 2006. This film tells the story of a worker who wants to open a restaurant for his family. The movie won the Special Jury Prize at the 64th Venice International Film Festival. It also won the Louis Delluc Prize and César Awards for Best Film and Best Director.

Kechiche's fourth film was Black Venus (Vénus Noire) in 2010. This movie is about a woman from the 19th century who was put on display in Europe. The film was well-received by critics.

Blue Is the Warmest Colour and Later Works

His 2013 film Blue Is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle – Chapitres 1 & 2) won the top award, the Palme d'Or, at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. The two main actresses, Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos, also shared this award. The film also won Best International Independent Film at the British Independent Film Awards in 2013.

His next film was Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno (2017), which was the first part of a series. This film premiered at the 74th Venice International Film Festival. To help finish the film, Kechiche decided to sell his Palme d'Or award. He successfully found the money and split the story into more films.

In 2019, Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. This film faced some challenges and was not widely released.

The third and final film in the series, Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due, is set to premiere at the 78th Locarno Film Festival in 2025.

Personal Life

Since 1992, Kechiche has lived with Ghalya Lacroix. She has worked with him on writing and editing many of his films.

Filmography

Filmmaker

As Actor

See also

In Spanish: Abdellatif Kechiche para niños