Abdellatif Kechiche

1960-12-07 · Tunis, Tunisia

Abdellatif Kechiche is a Franco-Tunisian actor, screenwriter, and director born on December 7, 1960, in Tunis, Tunisia. He moved to France as a child and began his career as an actor before turning to directing. He gained recognition with films praised for their realism, dialogue, and direction of actors, notably L'Esquive and La Graine et le Mulet, for which he won four César Awards each, and La Vie d'Adèle, the film that earned him the prestigious Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. He recently released Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due, the final installment of a trilogy and possibly his last film, as he suffered a stroke in 2025, which significantly curtailed his work. His films often explore human relationships, questions of identity, working-class communities, and the journey toward integration. His work has received numerous awards, though it has also occasionally sparked controversy regarding his filming methods.