In 1969, the San Francisco International Film Festival invited a little-known Greek director named Costa-Gavras to show his movie, "Z." A work commitment prevented him from attending and seeing for himself the enthusiastic response to "Z," which helped launch his now-classic political thriller in the United States.
As a belated show of gratitude, Costa-Gavras lent his considerable charm to the festival's opening night Thursday featuring his latest work, "The Ax." He brought along Michele Ray-Gavras, whom he introduced to the Castro Theatre audience as "my producer and also my wife, or my wife and also my producer.'' Ruth Stein reports in the San Francisco Chronicle.
