Filmmaker Costa-Gavras Set for Onassis' Profiles Series at BAM, 10/8

Known internationally for his riveting political thrillers, Oscar-winning writer-director Costa-Gavras will be the subject and guest of honor at a new public program of the Onassis Cultural Center NY, Profiles, on Tuesday, October 8, at 7:00 pm. The host of Profiles, noted cultural curator Paul Holdengräber, will engage Costa-Gavras in a discussion of his life, work and ideas, and comment with him on excerpts from his films.

The event will take place at the BAM Peter Jay Sharp Building, Lepercq Space, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn. Admission is free, with advance reservations recommended at reservations@onassisusa.org.

Born in Loutra Iraias, in the Peloponnese region of Greece, Costa-Gavras achieved international acclaim in 1969 with his fact-based drama Z (Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film), about political murder and the military overthrow of the democratic government of Greece. He has directed more than twenty-two feature films exploring themes of law and justice, oppression, legal and illegal violence and torture. Other notable films includeMissing with Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek (1982, Academy Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, and Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival), about an American journalist who disappeared in the coup led by General Augusto Pinochet in Chile; Music Box (1989, Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival), about the suspicions of an American lawyer that her father had committed terrible crimes during World War II; and his most recent, Capital (2012), a darkly comic, suspenseful drama set in the high-stakes world of global finance.

Paul Holdengräber, the host of Profiles, is the director of Public Programs at New York Public Library and founder and director of LIVE from the NYPL, the Library's popular series of conversations with writers, musicians, filmmakers and artists. Before joining the Library, Holdengräber was the founder and director of the Institute for Art and Cultures at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

The Onassis Cultural Center NY will announce additional presentations in the Profiles series at a later date.