His third film, Z ('69), a breathlessly paced condemnation of the Greek military junta's ruthless seizure of power in 1966, became an international sensation.

Costa-Gavras' unheralded blend of documentary fact and thriller-like narrative urgency earned Z the jury prize at Cannes, an Academy Award for best foreign film, a British Academy Award for best film and the New York Film Critics Circle nod for best film and best direction.

THE CONFESSION ('70) and STATE OF SIEGE ('73), both starring Z's Yves Montand, were in a similar vein and detailed political oppression in Czechoslovakia and Uruguay respectively with genre film intensity.

Though SIEGE's anti-American elements caused some controversy in the US at the time of its release, by the early eighties Costa-Gavras was working in Hollywood.

His American debut, MISSING ('82), the story of an American family seeking word of a "disappeared" family member in Latin America, won accolades for leads Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon and earned Costa-Gavras a shared best screenplay Oscar.

His 1983 follow up, the pro-Palestinian melodrama HANNA K., surprised and infuriated many of those who'd championed MISSING.

After the French comedy FAMILY BUSINESS ('86), Costa-Gavras made two films in a row from scripts by Hollywood bete-noir Joe Eszterhas.

The second, THE MUSIC BOX ('89) earned the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1990. In the last decade Costa-Gavras has helmed both French and American features and has made contributions to anthology films like 1995's LUMIERE AND COMPANY.

Costa-Gavras has performed in several films including MADAME ROSA in 1978 and John Landis' 1986 SPIES LIKE US and was the co-subject of the 1976 documentary, COSTA-GAVRAS TALKS WITH MARCEL OPHULS: POLITICAL FILMS (1976). A citizen of France, he was appointed president of the Cinematheque Francaise in 1982.