Mathieu Kassovitz is a French actor, director and screenwriter, and is considered one of contemporary France's top young film talents. The son of director Peter Kassovitz , Mathieu was born August 3, 1967 in Paris.

As a filmmaker, Kassovitz has a number of artistic and commercial successes under his belt. He wrote and directed La Haine (1995), a hugely successful film in France and internationally which won the Cesar Award for Best Film and netted Kassovitz the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival. He later directed Les Rivières Pourpres (2000), a police detective thriller starring Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel, another massive commercial success in France, and Gothika (2003), a fantastic thriller, with Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz.

As an actor, Kassovitz is most famous outside France for his role as Nino Quincampoix in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film Amélie. Among many other credits, he also had small roles in La Haine (which he also directed,) Birthday Girl and The Fifth Element. He also played the main role in Amen (2003) by Costa-Gavras.