Marin Karmitz

''Marin Karmitz'' is a Romanian-born French film producer, director, distributor, and exhibitor known for founding the MK2 group and his longstanding commitment to auteur cinema through production, distribution, and exhibition. Born on November 7, 1939, in Bucharest, Romania, to a Jewish family, he immigrated to France at age nine and credits the country's hospitality for his opportunities. A graduate of the IDHEC film school, Karmitz began his career as an assistant director to filmmakers including Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, and others before directing his own works, such as the short ''Nuit noire Calcutta'' (1964) with a screenplay by Marguerite Duras, the Samuel Beckett adaptation ''Comédie'' (1965), and features including ''Comrades'' (1970) and ''Blow for Blow'' (1972).

In 1967, Karmitz founded mk2 Productions, and in 1974 he launched the company's distribution arm and opened its first cinema on May 1, transforming MK2 into France's largest independent cinema network with dozens of screens in Paris and beyond, while also expanding internationally. Rooted in post-1968 ideals, his approach emphasized bringing marginal and auteur films to wider audiences, preserving original versions, and creating cultural spaces for encounter and creation rather than purely commercial venues. Over the decades, he produced 108 films and distributed more than 350 theatrically, collaborating with directors such as Krzysztof Kieślowski on the ''Three Colors'' trilogy, Claude Chabrol on twelve films, Abbas Kiarostami, Michael Haneke, Ken Loach, and Gus Van Sant, among many others.

The films he supported have received over 150 awards and nominations, including three Palmes d’Or at Cannes, three Golden Lions at Venice, a Golden Bear at Berlin, and multiple César awards, while Karmitz himself has been honored as Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur, Commandeur des Arts et Lettres, and with other distinctions. He handed operational control of MK2 to his sons in 2005 and fully retired from the company in his mid-80s, subsequently focusing on his photography collection and exhibitions while reflecting on cinema's evolution from "culture for all" to a more democratized but sometimes overproduced landscape.