Film Producer’s Son Becomes France’s Youngest Prime Minister

Melanie Goodfellow
·2 min read
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French President Emmanuel Macron made history on Tuesday as he appointed 34-year-old politician Gabriel Attal as France’s youngest ever prime minister.

Macron has a complex relationship with France’s cinema industry, where his pension reforms, attitude to cultural funding and support of Gérard Depardieu have come under fire from some quarters, but his new prime minister comes with interesting film world connections.

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The new rising star of French politics is the son of late lawyer and film producer Yves Attal, who took credits on Pedro Almodóvar’s High Heels, Roberto Benigni’s The Monster and Bernardo Bertolucci’s Stealing Beauty.

Attal’s mother Marie de Couriss also worked in a production company.

As a teenager, Attal had a small role in Christophe Honoré’s 2008 drama The Beautiful Person co-starring Louis Garrel and Léa Seydoux.

But Attal chose not to follow in his parents’ footsteps.

After private schooling at Paris’s prestigious École Alsacienne, Attal studied at top Paris law school Assas followed by a Master’s in Public Affairs at Science Po.

He then kicked-off his career as Cultural Chargé de mission at the Villa Medici French Academy in Rome, before moving more into centre-left politics.

Attal’s family name, which stems from his father’s Tunisian Jewish roots, has also raised questions over whether he is related to actor and director Yvan Attal but the pair do not have family ties.

Prior to Attal’s appointment, France’s youngest prime minister was Laurent Fabius, who took up the role at the age of 37-years-old in 1984.

Attal replaces Élisabeth Borne who resigned on Monday ahead of a cabinet reshuffle by Macron as he aims to reboot his second presidency, which has been difficult due to the fact he does not have a clear majority.

The young politician, who is also France’s first openly gay prime minister, is known for his energetic and bold approach and frankness when tackling controversial issues.

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