Abdellatif Kechiche (born December 7, 1960 in Tunis) is a Tunisian-French director, screenwriter and actor.
To non-French audience, he is probably most well-known for directing Blue Is the Warmest Color, which won him the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Festival.
He is well known for his naturalist films. He comes himself from a working-class immigrant background; his movies are famous for depicting themes of social struggle and racism. He is also known for casting beginner actors in his films.
Filmography:
- L'Esquive (Games of Love and Chance, 2004)
- La Graine et le Mulet (The secret of the grain, 2007)
- Blue Is the Warmest Color (La Vie d'Adèle, 2013)
- Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno (2017)
- Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo (2019)
Tropes he often uses in his work:
- Author Appeal: Kechiche is known for his love of butts.
- Creator Thumbprint: Among others, he has a fondness for close-ups; novels of Marivaux (La Vie de Marianne in Blue Is the Warmest Color, Games of Love and Chance in L'Esquive)
- Monochrome Casting: Averted. Most of his films reflect the diversity of ethnicities in French society better than the vast majority of modern French author films.
- Orphaned Series: Mektoub, My Love was meant to be a trilogy, but the second movie, Intermezzo, ran into controversy that appears to have scuttled that. The movie contains an apparently unsimulated sex scene that the actors were reluctant to do. Kechiche reportedly got them drunk in order to get them to continue. Actress Ophelia Bau walked out of the Cannes premiere and later said that she had asked to view the scene in private before it was shown to the public, a request Kechiche refused. Intermezzo has not been screened since due to the controversy (not to mention its poor reception from critics), and the third movie, even though filming is supposedly complete, may never be released.
- Prima Donna Director: Blue Is the Warmest Color was somewhat tainted by the revelations that Kechiche is difficult to work with and very demanding.
- Slobs Versus Snobs: Of sorts. Kechiche's movie often depicts the stratification of French society that manifests itself through language, habits and ethnics. It is especially a central theme of L'Esquive: the language of teenagers from impoverished neighborhoods (accent des banlieues) is contrasted to the old-style, posh language used in the theatre piece they have to study at school.
- Star-Making Role: Kechiche's habit to cast beginner actors for his films has revealed many new talents such as Sara Forestier, Sabrina Ouazani, Hafsia Herzi and Adele Exarchopoulos.
