GREEK DIRECTORS

1. Giorgos Tzavellas

Giorgos Tzavellaswas a Greek film director, screenwriter, and playwright. His filmmaking was particularly influential, with critic Georges Sadoul considering him "one of the three major postwar Greek directors" (along with Michael Cacoyannis and Nikos Koundouros). Tzavellas wrote at least 26 plays,...

2. Michael Cacoyannis

Director | Alexis Zorbas

Michael Cacoyannis was born on June 11, 1922 in Limassol, Cyprus. He was a director and writer, known for Zorba the Greek (1964), Electra (1962) and Eroika (1960). He died on July 25, 2011 in Athens, Greece.

3. Alekos Sakellarios

Writer | Alloimono stous neous

Alekos Sakellarios was a Greek writer and a director. He was born in Athens and grew up in Agios Panteleimonas and began to study journalism and acting at a young age. He wrote his first theatrical play in 1935 called The King of Halva. He entered the film industry and had roles in both ...

4. Dinos Dimopoulos

Director | Pyretos stin asfalto

In his childhood he used to climb to the lighthouse of the nowadays ghost-town of Koprena, where he was raised, and daydream he was in a ship, sailing for distant places. His family, though, forbade a sailor's career. As things turned out, he became one of the two or three greatest film makers of ...

5. Nikos Koundouros

Director | Mikres Afrodites

He studied painting and sculpture at the Athens School of Fine Arts from which he graduated in 1948.

Because of his left-wing political beliefs, he was exiled in Makronisos Island after the end of World War II

He started his career, as a director, at the age of 28, on 1954, with the film "Maghiki ...

6. Alekos Alexandrakis

Actor | Thriamvos

Alekos Alexandrakis was born in 1928, in Athens, Greece. He studied at the Drama School of the Greek National Theater and made his stage debut in a 1949 Athens production of Daphne Du Maurier's "Autumn Tide". He soon became one of the best actors of his generation, appearing in Euripides' "...

7. Kostas Manoussakis

Director | Prodosia

Kostas Manoussakis was born in January 1929 in Greece. He was a director and writer, known for Prodosia (1964), The Fear (1966) and Love in the Sand Dunes (1958). He died on August 26, 2005 in Athens, Greece.

8. Alexis Damianos

Actor | ....mehri to ploio

Alexis Damianos was born on January 21, 1921 in Athens, Greece. He was an actor and director, known for ....mehri to ploio (1966), Evdokia (1971) and Iniohos (1995). He died on May 4, 2006 in Athens, Greece.

9. Theodoros Angelopoulos

Director | Mia aioniotita kai mia mera

Theo Angelopoulos began to study law in Athens but broke up his studies to go to the Sorbonne in Paris in order to study literature. When he had finished his studies, he wanted to attend the School of Cinema at Paris but decided instead to go back to Greece. There he worked as a journalist and ...

10. Nikos Papatakis

Writer | I fotografia

Nikos Papatakis was born on July 5, 1918 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He was a writer and director, known for The Photograph (1986), The Depths (1963) and Oi voskoi (1967). He was married to Olga Karlatos and Anouk Aimée. He died on December 17, 2010 in Paris, France.

11. Costa-Gavras

Director | Z

Costa-Gavras was born on February 12, 1933 in Loutra-Iraias, Greece. He is a director and writer, known for Z (1969), Missing (1982) and Amen. (2002). He has been married to Michèle Ray-Gavras since 1968. They have two children.

12. Pantelis Voulgaris

Director | Petrina hronia

He studied film direction in Greece and worked in more than 40 films as an assistant director. In 1965 he made his first short film O kleftis (1965) and in 1967 his second short film, Tzimis o Tigris (1966) won many awards in several festivals. In 1972 he made his feature film debut, Anna's ...

13. Tonia Marketaki

Director | Ioannis o viaios

Tonia Marketaki was born on July 28, 1942 in Athens, Greece. She was a director and writer, known for John the Violent (1973), Krystallines nyhtes (1992) and The Price of Love (1984). She died on July 26, 1994.

14. Nikos Nikolaidis

Writer | Proini peripolos

Nikos Nikolaidis was born on October 25, 1939 in Athens, Greece. He was a writer and director, known for Morning Patrol (1987), Ta kourelia tragoudane akoma... (1979) and O hamenos ta pairnei ola (2002). He died on September 5, 2007 in Athens, Greece.

15. Nicos Perakis

Director | Loufa kai parallagi

Nicos Perakis was born on September 11, 1944 in Alexandria, Egypt. He is a director and production designer, known for Loafing and Camouflage (1984), Sirens in the Aegean (2005) and Thilyki etaireia (1999).

16. Giorgos Panousopoulos

Director | Taxidi tou melitos

Giorgos Panousopoulos is known for Taxidi tou melitos (1979), Love Me Not? (1989) and Testosteroni (2004). He is married to Betty Livanou.

17. Costas Ferris

Director | Dyo fengaria ton Avgousto

Costas was raised in Egypt, and had a Greek education in Ambeteios School of Cairo. He speaks five languages, Greek, French, English, Italian and Arabic, and writes and creates in three (Greek, English and French). Interested in poetry and literature since a very early age, he was involved in ...

18. Stavros Tsiolis

Writer | Parakalo, gynaikes, mi klaite...

Stavros Tsiolis was born on October 6, 1937 in Tripoli, Greece. He was a writer and director, known for Please, Ladies, Don't Cry (1992), Akatanikitoi erastes (1988) and Erotas sti hourmadia (1990). He died on July 23, 2019 in Athens, Greece.

19. Tassos Boulmetis

Director | Politiki kouzina

Tassos Boulmetis studied Physics at the University of Athens and Film Production and Direction at the University of California (UCLA), under a scholarship support from the A. Onassis Foundation. At UCLA he taught as a teaching assistant classes on directing actors for film and television. In Greece...

20. Dimos Avdeliodis

Director | I earini synaxis ton agrofylakon

Dimos (Aristodimos) Avdeliodis was born in 1952 in Chios, Greece.

He is a Greek film director, screenwriter, actor and producer.

He studied at the School of Philosophy at the University of Athens and attended acting classes at the Athens Drama School of Giorgos Theodosiadis.

Dimos Avdeliodis has ...

21. Constantine Giannaris

Director | Dekapentavgoustos

Constantine Giannaris is a Greek film director. He studied Finance, History and Philosophy at the Universities of Kiel and Birmingham. His cinema career started in England where he completed independent short films of short budget. His first Greek film, Mia Thesi Ston Helio (1995) was awarded with ...

22. Nik Triantafyllidis

Director | Oi aisthimaties

Nik Triantafyllidis was born on September 9, 1966 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a director and writer, known for The Sentimentalists (2014), 90 Years of PAOK: Nostalgia for the Future (2016) and Dogs Licking My Heart (1993). He died on June 7, 2016 in Athens, Greece.

23. Nikos Grammatikos

Director | Apontes

Nikos Grammatikos was born in 1963 in Salamina, Greece. He is a director and writer, known for Truants (1996), The King (2002) and Agrypnia (2005).

24. Sotiris Goritsas

Director | Ap' to hioni

Sotiris Goritsas is known for Ap' to hioni (1993), Ap' ta kokala vgalmena (2011) and Valkanizater (1997).

25. Eleni Alexandraki

Director | Stagona ston okeano

Eleni Alexandrakis was born in 1957 in Athens. She studied film at the Sorbonne University, Paris I and at the National Film and TV School of England. She has written, directed and produced a few fiction films as well as documentaries among which: « A Drop in the Ocean» (fiction), « Easter is in ...

26. Penny Panagiotopoulou

Director | Dyskoloi apohairetismoi: O babas mou

Penny Panagiotopoulou is known for Hard Goodbyes: My Father (2002), September (2013) and Wishbone (2024).

27. Katerina Evangelakou

Director | Tha to metanioseis

Katerina Evangelakou is known for Tha to metanioseis (2002), Ores koinis isyhias (2006) and Iagouaros (1994).

28. Athina Rachel Tsangari

Producer | Attenberg

Athina Rachel Tsangari was born on April 2, 1966 in Aspra Spitia, Greece. She is a producer and director, known for Attenberg (2010), Chevalier (2015) and The Slow Business of Going (2000).

29. Thanos Anastopoulos

Producer | I kori

Thanos Anastopoulos was born on October 26, 1965 in Athens, Greece. He is a producer and director, known for The Daughter (2012), Diorthosi (2007) and The Last Resort (2016).

30. Panos H. Koutras

Director | Xenia

Born in Athens. He studied in London at the "London International Film School" and then in Paris at the "Sorbonne". From 1985 until 1995 he lived in Paris and London and made several shorts films which participated in festivals such as "The London Film Festival", "Festival Du Cinema Mediterraneen" ...

31. Christos Dimas

Director | Akrovates tou kipou

Christos Dimas is known for Akrovates tou kipou (2001), Tessera (2000) and Enas ouranos gematos asteria (1996).

32. Yannis Economides

Director | To mikro psari

Yannis Economides was born in Cyprus in 1967. In 1987 he moved to Athens, Greece, to pursue studies in law, but almost immediately quit law school to study filmmaking instead.

After making several documentaries and short films, in 2003 he wrote and directed his first feature film, the iconic ...

33. Filippos Tsitos

Director | Akadimia Platonos

Born in Anthens in 1966, where he studied marketing at university and worked as a photographer, assistant director and editor of pop promos, as well as the produced of a radio programme. Moved to Berlin (Germany) in 1991 where he studied directing at the German Film and Television Academy (...

34. Alexander Voulgaris

Composer | Roz

Alexander Voulgaris was born on February 22, 1981 in Athens, Greece. He is a composer and actor, known for Pink (2006), Winona (2019) and Thread (2016).

35. Alexis Alexiou

Director | Tetarti 04:45

Alexis Alexiou was born in 1976 in Athens, Greece. He is a director and writer, known for Tetarti 04:45 (2015), Istoria 52 (2008) and Tugo tugo (1998).

36. Costas Zapas

Director | Agapi, agapi, agapi

Costas Zapas is known for Love, Love, Love (2016), The Last Porn Movie (2006) and Mikres eleftheries (2008).

37. Yorgos Lanthimos

Director | The Lobster

Yorgos Lanthimos was born in Athens, Greece. He studied directing for Film and Television at the Stavrakos Film School in Athens. He has directed a number of dance videos in collaboration with Greek choreographers, in addition to TV commercials, music videos, short films and theater plays. Kinetta,...

38. Argyris Papadimitropoulos

Producer | Monday

Argyris Papadimitropoulos was born in Athens, Greece. He is a director and writer, known for Monday (2020), Suntan (2016) and Wasted Youth (2011).

39. Syllas Tzoumerkas

Director | To thavma tis thalassas ton Sargasson

Syllas Tzoumerkas was born in 1978 in Thessaloniki. He grew up in Thessaloniki, Kilkis and the island of Nisyros. His first feature film Homeland premiered at the Venice Critics' Week 201o. His second feature A Blast premiered in competition at Locarno 2014, and his third, The Miracle of the ...

40. Aris Bafaloukas

Director | Apnoia

Aris Bafaloukas is known for Apnea (2010), Istories apo tin apenanti ohthi (2007) and To potami (1994).

41. Giorgos Georgopoulos

Editor | De thelo na gino dysarestos, alla prepei na milisoume gia kati poly sovaro

Giorgos Georgopoulos is known for Not to Be Unpleasant, But We Need to Have a Serious Talk (2019), Tungsten (2011) and Kuluhiro: Hope (2011).