Tony Gatlif, filmmaker who brought Roma culture to the screen, dies at 77

Tony Gatlif, the filmmaker who made Roma culture, music and marginalised lives central to his cinema, has died at 77 in Arles in southern France. His family said he died Wednesday from a health problem while working on a historical film.

Gatlif directed around 20 films and won the Cannes Film Festival’s best director award in 2004 for Exils. The film follows two young French people of Algerian origin who travel to Algeria. His international breakthrough came with Gadjo dilo, released in 1997 and starring Romain Duris and Romanian actress Rona Hartner.

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lived on the margins

Shot in Romania, Gadjo dilo follows a young Frenchman searching for a Roma singer. Music and Roma culture drive the film, as they did much of Gatlif’s work. His filmography explored Roma history, music and living conditions, including the Roma genocide during the Second World War in Korkoro, released in 2009.

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off-the-beaten paths, borders that disappear and lives that receive very little attention

Gatlif was born Michel Dahmani in Algiers in 1948 to a Kabyle father and Roma mother. He arrived in France in 1962 and began as an actor before moving behind the camera. His films centred on communities, cultures and characters who, in his own words, “lived on the margins.”

French Culture Minister Catherine Pégard wrote that Gatlif had a taste for “off-the-beaten paths, borders that disappear and lives that receive very little attention.” She added that he filmed “music, movement, exile and freedom with an energy that belonged only to him.” His final film, Ange, was released in 2025 and starred Arthur H., Maria de Medeiros and Mathieu Amalric.

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music, movement, exile and freedom with an energy that belonged only to him