Costa-Gavras is recruited for a Cultural Olympiad production

Renowned director’s commissioned work, as yet unknown, to premiere in New York in May

Though the nature of his contributing project remains unknown, the French-based film director and screenwriter Costa-Gavras (born Constantinos Gavras) - who is known internationally for making politically motivated films, including 1969's acclaimed «Z» - has been commissioned to produce a project for the Cultural Olympiad, the state-sponsored four-year series of cultural events ahead of the Athens 2004 Olympics.

Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos confirmed the news at a midweek news conference held in Athens following talks with Costa-Gavras. The director will also sit on an international jury to select winning Cultural Olympiad productions.

«Mr Gavras has honored us by joining the international jury for the Cultural Olympiad's 'Kotinos Awards,' whose full lineup we will announce after the summer vacations, and most importantly, he has agreed to assume the role of artistic director for a major production which we are organizing in conjunction with the American Ballet Theater for May 2003,» Venizelos said.

Plans have already been made for the still-unknown production to premiere at New York's Metropolitan Opera before it is brought to Greece. Two of its cast members were also announced, these being the popular vocalist Giorgos Dalaras and mezzo-soprano Agnes Baltsa.

As for the prospective work's nature, Costa-Gavras remained tight-lipped but witty. «We're considering the production's considerations,» Costa-Gavras noted. «We had a chat with the minister and will now begin working with Giorgos [Dalaras] and the rest to put together a program. This is all we can say for the time being,» he added.

Costa-Gavras, who launched his career in the mid-1960s in France where he had studied, made an impact early on with a series of politically charged films, often starring Yves Montand, which addressed issues such as Greece's military dictatorship (1967-74), communist totalitarianism, and American imperialism.

The role of Costa-Gavras's father as a Greek government functionary who performed heroically in the resistance movement against the occupying Nazi forces in World War II no doubt helped propel the filmmaker's political activism. At the war's end, Gavras senior, an outspoken figure, was labeled a communist. It eventually cost Costa-Gavras entrance to the USA, where he had hoped to study filmmaking. He moved to Paris instead to study literature while working as an assistant to several of France's top directors.

Costa-Gavras, who was appointed president of Paris's Cinematheque Francaise in 1982, said he felt honored to be commissioned by his homeland's Culture Ministry. «I feel very moved by this proposal and think that I'm ready to give whenever Greece asks,» Gavras said, adding that his thoughts on Greece often make him think of Dalaras. «Whenever I discuss my Greek roots, music is at the essence of it. For me, Giorgos was, and always is, one of those who stir my emotions tremendously. I listen to his records along with those of others... I think we'll be able to come up with something interesting in America.»

Dalaras returned the gratitude. «I respect Costa-Gavras without limit for his love of this land, as well as his spirit. His presence is an honor for all of us,» the singer said.

During the news conference, Costa-Gavras did not escape questions on the country's current big issue, terrorism and the ongoing investigation and dismantling of the notorious November 17 terrorist group. «Greece is putting an end to an issue which heavily stigmatized the country - was an albatross around its neck,» Costa-Gavras remarked. «In France, people are following the current developments with relief,» he added.

Considering Costa-Gavras's French base, and the French connection of November 17's alleged leader Alexandros Yotopoulos - he was a student radical in Paris in the late 1960s and early '70s - reporters could not resist the inevitable question; whether the artist had known or heard anything about the organization's members. «No, no. I didn't know anyone,» Costa-Gavras replied.

Returning to the artist's work, Costa-Gavras, who has being making movies at a steady rate for nearly four decades, recently completed his latest project, «Amen,» which will be shown in local theaters in winter.