“THE PRESS WERE PHONING MY FATHER AFTER THE JUSTICE ‘STRESS’ VIDEO ASKING IF HE WAS ASHAMED. HE TOLD ME NOT TO WORRY ABOUT IT. IN 10 YEARS’ TIME THE PRESS WILL BE SUCKING MY PENIS FOR THE VERY SAME THING THEY DAMNED ME FOR.” ROMAIN GAVRAS

Over the past few years the talented 27-year-old Athenian-born director Romain
Gavras has made quite a name for himself. From creating the art collective Kourtrajme with Kim Chapiron among others to working with musicians such as Simian Mobile Disco, The Last Shadow Puppets, and Ed Banger family members DJ Mehdi and Justice – he’s left a trail of bemused, moved, astounded and angry viewers in his wake. His appropriation of a cinematic form has left Gavras’ message, if there is one, wide open to interpretation, ranging from the faux-documentary in the vein of Peter Watkins’ 1971 masterpiece Punishment Park (“The way it’s shot it feels as though it was real”) to his apparently ‘apolitical’ take on modern European icons, such as the ‘white trash’ of the northern districts of Paris and Romanian gypsies.

One of the criticisms often raised against Gavras regards his roots. Born to the Oscar and Palme d’Or winning Greek director Costa Gavras, sibling to Julie ‘Blame It On Fidel’ Gavras and living with means, it’s often asked whether his portrayal of the ‘underprivileged’ is a misdirected glorification. Gavras, who now lives in Paris, however sees things differently. As opposed to pretending to grapple with the larger questions - be they political, socio-economical or moral - he simply tries to show a snapshot of certain elements of contemporary Europe as they appear. Indeed, it’s a trait that runs through his work. “It might sound pretentious, but I wanted to draw some European icons in the medium of music videos. Like the French white trash from the north, the French kids from the suburbs in Paris, the gypsies in Romania and Russia. They are icons and for me, heroes in their own way. There’s no way of not putting them on a pedestal, especially when using strong stuff like this. Most young directors in Europe and France fantasize about the States and do films like Scorsese with guns and money in briefcases. It’s not European identity. There was once a great time in France and Italy that had a really strong sense of its own identity, and that’s what I go to.”

Indeed, his production company Kourtrajme, active since 1995, has always worked with predominantly French based political themes. Be it through their early rap videos for Nouveau Clip de Rockin Squat’s ode to Franco-Afro connections on ‘France à Fric’, next to real video footage of police brutality in the projects, or the fact that Mathieu Kassovitz (La Haine) and rising star photographer JR are part of the Kourtrajme team. It is his most recent videos for the likes of Simian Mobile Disco and Justice, facilitated by his producer Mo that has made it possible for him to realize his vision. This includes, quite literally, to put him on the firing line when shooting in Russia. “Mo’s a hard bastard, half Jewish, half Arab. He has every vice rolled into one person. There’s no way I could have done the Last Shadow Puppets video in Russia without Mo doing shit like bribing the Mob. It was a nightmare. Film broke because it was too cold. It was on a military training base where foreigners were prohibited so we weren’t allowed to speak French. And, as they were still training, we’d be in the middle of a take and there would be shells going off behind us. Fucking scary. Same with the Justice video ‘Stress’. As we couldn’t get any permits to film something with violent kids in Paris, we forged the applications. No one was prepared, the camera was discreet and there was no warning. All the reactions, the fear, the despair were real.”

Yes, THAT ‘Stress’ video. The visually arresting, part La Haine, part Clockwork Orange and all visceral video with a brief that reads like a middle-class nightmare [leather jacketed hoodies from the projects run amok on an ultra-violent spree through Paris]. And considering the history of clashes with police in Parisian projects, the recent riots, not to mention the current resurgence of conservatism in Europe, it had everyone who saw it salivating for many different reasons. No wonder applications were falsified. “The right wing was saying ‘It glorifies violence and is trying to get the kids from the projects to riot’. The left wing said ‘It’s racist. How can you portray the projects like that.’ It was strange to rile everyone. I had more press than a pedophile.”

Whether strong, context-laden subjects twinned with documentary-style filming can ever truly remain apolitical is questionable. However with a feature film co-produced by Vincent Cassel in the pipeline, the Justice documentary co-produced by So Me ‘A Cross The Universe’ released and the Kourtrajme fam continually causing controversy, one thing is certain; you should get used to the name Romain Gavras. He’s not getting out of your way.


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Features Miranda July Vs S/S10 RANKIN - SAGA MAGAZINE '09 Bella Freud - Saga Magazine '09 ROMAIN GAVRAS - Vs MAGAZINE A/W09 Ulrich Seidl - Vs MAGAZINE A/W09 Sebastien Tellier - Vs Magazine A/W08 'Speakieasies Go Legit...Kinda' - DRINK MAGAZINE '08 Chris Cunningham - Vs Magazine A/W08 Sebastien Tellier - Electronic Beats. Autumn '08 David Shrigley LCD Soundsystem Bang Gang Simian Mobile Disco Justin Robertson Ed Banger (Busy P) Columns Reviews	“THE PRESS WERE PHONING MY FATHER AFTER THE JUSTICE ‘STRESS’ VIDEO ASKING IF HE WAS ASHAMED. HE TOLD ME NOT TO WORRY ABOUT IT. IN 10 YEARS’ TIME THE PRESS WILL BE SUCKING MY PENIS FOR THE VERY SAME THING THEY DAMNED ME FOR.” ROMAIN GAVRAS Over the past few years the talented 27-year-old Athenian-born director Romain Gavras has made quite a name for himself. From creating the art collective Kourtrajme with Kim Chapiron among others to working with musicians such as Simian Mobile Disco, The Last Shadow Puppets, and Ed Banger family members DJ Mehdi and Justice – he’s left a trail of bemused, moved, astounded and angry viewers in his wake. His appropriation of a cinematic form has left Gavras’ message, if there is one, wide open to interpretation, ranging from the faux-documentary in the vein of Peter Watkins’ 1971 masterpiece Punishment Park (“The way it’s shot it feels as though it was real”) to his apparently ‘apolitical’ take on modern European icons, such as the ‘white trash’ of the northern districts of Paris and Romanian gypsies. One of the criticisms often raised against Gavras regards his roots. Born to the Oscar and Palme d’Or winning Greek director Costa Gavras, sibling to Julie ‘Blame It On Fidel’ Gavras and living with means, it’s often asked whether his portrayal of the ‘underprivileged’ is a misdirected glorification. Gavras, who now lives in Paris, however sees things differently. As opposed to pretending to grapple with the larger questions - be they political, socio-economical or moral - he simply tries to show a snapshot of certain elements of contemporary Europe as they appear. Indeed, it’s a trait that runs through his work. “It might sound pretentious, but I wanted to draw some European icons in the medium of music videos. Like the French white trash from the north, the French kids from the suburbs in Paris, the gypsies in Romania and Russia. They are icons and for me, heroes in their own way. There’s no way of not putting them on a pedestal, especially when using strong stuff like this. Most young directors in Europe and France fantasize about the States and do films like Scorsese with guns and money in briefcases. It’s not European identity. There was once a great time in France and Italy that had a really strong sense of its own identity, and that’s what I go to.” Indeed, his production company Kourtrajme, active since 1995, has always worked with predominantly French based political themes. Be it through their early rap videos for Nouveau Clip de Rockin Squat’s ode to Franco-Afro connections on ‘France à Fric’, next to real video footage of police brutality in the projects, or the fact that Mathieu Kassovitz (La Haine) and rising star photographer JR are part of the Kourtrajme team. It is his most recent videos for the likes of Simian Mobile Disco and Justice, facilitated by his producer Mo that has made it possible for him to realize his vision. This includes, quite literally, to put him on the firing line when shooting in Russia. “Mo’s a hard bastard, half Jewish, half Arab. He has every vice rolled into one person. There’s no way I could have done the Last Shadow Puppets video in Russia without Mo doing shit like bribing the Mob. It was a nightmare. Film broke because it was too cold. It was on a military training base where foreigners were prohibited so we weren’t allowed to speak French. And, as they were still training, we’d be in the middle of a take and there would be shells going off behind us. Fucking scary. Same with the Justice video ‘Stress’. As we couldn’t get any permits to film something with violent kids in Paris, we forged the applications. No one was prepared, the camera was discreet and there was no warning. All the reactions, the fear, the despair were real.” Yes, THAT ‘Stress’ video. The visually arresting, part La Haine, part Clockwork Orange and all visceral video with a brief that reads like a middle-class nightmare [leather jacketed hoodies from the projects run amok on an ultra-violent spree through Paris]. And considering the history of clashes with police in Parisian projects, the recent riots, not to mention the current resurgence of conservatism in Europe, it had everyone who saw it salivating for many different reasons. No wonder applications were falsified. “The right wing was saying ‘It glorifies violence and is trying to get the kids from the projects to riot’. The left wing said ‘It’s racist. How can you portray the projects like that.’ It was strange to rile everyone. I had more press than a pedophile.” Whether strong, context-laden subjects twinned with documentary-style filming can ever truly remain apolitical is questionable. However with a feature film co-produced by Vincent Cassel in the pipeline, the Justice documentary co-produced by So Me ‘A Cross The Universe’ released and the Kourtrajme fam continually causing controversy, one thing is certain; you should get used to the name Romain Gavras. He’s not getting out of your way.