The film-maker died following a health problem while he was working in Arles, in the south of France, on a historical film project.
Culture Minister Catherine Pégard paid tribute to him and said of him in a tweet that he "had a taste for taking the back roads, for fading borders, for lives we pay far too little attention to."
Tony Gatlif directed 25 films, including "Gadjo Dilo" with Romain Duris (1997) and "Exils" (2004, best director prize at Cannes).
The film-maker was drawn to social stories and Gypsy culture. His films often feature flamenco and Romani music.
Tony Gatlif was born Michel Dahamani on 10 September 1948, to a Kabyle father and a Gypsy mother.
During a police check, when he was around twelve, he decided to change his name to avoid being sent back to Algeria. He chose Gatlif, the name of a park in Algiers.
After a spell in a reform school, he was sent back to the Camargue.
"I fought a battle against my destiny, against myself, and that is no small thing," he told AFP in 2021. "From the moment I set foot in the Camargue, I began to listen, and that has to do with the respect with which people spoke to me, without prejudice," he added.
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