GREEK DIRECTORS
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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, in addition to writing the scripts for all of his films. Among his notable films are Marinos Kontaras (1948), the drama O methystakas (1950), and Antigone (1961), a cinematic adaptation of the Sophocles tragedy. His adaptation of Antigone reimagined it in the language of realist cinema, omitting stylized elements of Greek stageplay such as the chorus, and attempting to convey the same information via setting and dialogue. In 1964 he was a member of the jury at the 14th Berlin International Film Festival. His masterpiece, however, is the 1955 film The Counterfeit Coin (1955), a film in four parts, linking the stories of several people through their transactions of a single counterfeit gold coin.- Director
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Michael Cacoyannis was born on 11 June 1922 in Limassol, Cyprus. He was a director and writer, known for Zorba the Greek (1964), Electra (1962) and Eroika (1960). He died on 25 July 2011 in Athens, Greece.- Writer
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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 screenwriting and directing. He directed mainly with Hristos Giannakopoulos and together they wrote and produced an estimated 140 works. The most popular include: The Germans Strike Again, Thanasakis o politevomenos, I theia ap' to Chicago, Dikoi mas anthropoi, Ena votsalo sti limni, Kalos ilthe to dollario, Ta kitrina gantia, Otan leipei i gata, I soferina, Laterna, ftoheia kai filotimo, Alimono stous neous and more. Many of these theatrical plays were transferred to the cinema with notable success. He also wrote the lyrics of many songs (over 2,000). The significant journalist Freddie Germanos called him the "most clever Greek of the 20th century". He died in 1991 and is buried in the First Cemetery of Athens in a family grave.- Director
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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 the so-called golden era of the Greek cinema, the '60s. Three generations of Greeks laughed and cried with his movies. Those films are still very successful when broadcast on Greek TV. The sea is more than evident in his best known films. He had the reputation of a hard man to work with but he used to say, "making movies is a game, if we all respect its rules, we can enjoy the game, when someone breaks the rules the game is no longer amusing for the rest of the set". He spent many of the last years of his life by the sea, next to a pine forest, writing novels mostly for children.- Director
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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 Polis" (Enchanted City) that was influenced by neorealism. With his second film "Dracos" (Dragon) in 1956 came his national and international recognition for his cinematography.
Lately he was hospitalized because of respiratory problems
He passed away around 16:00 on the afternoon of February 22, 2017 at his home in Athens, close to his family, at the age of 91.- Actor
- Director
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' "Hippolytus" (title role), Ivan Turgenev's "A Month in the Country" (as Mikhail Alexandrovitz Rakitin), Sophocles' "Electra" (as Orestis), Neil Simon's "Plaza Suite" (as Jessie, Sam and Roy) and many other plays. He made his screen debut in 1949 and appeared in more than 60 films, proving himself equally adequate in comedy and drama. He also directed two interesting neorealist films in the early 1960's, Thriamvos (1962) and A Neighborhood Named 'The Dream' (1961).- Director
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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 26 August 2005 in Athens, Greece.- Actor
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Alexis Damianos was born on 21 January 1921 in Athens, Greece. He was an actor and director, known for ....mehri to ploio (1966), Evdokia (1971) and Iniohos (1995). He died on 4 May 2006 in Athens, Greece.- Director
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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 critic for the newspaper "Demokratiki Allaghi" until it was banned by the military after a coup d'état. Now unemployed, he decided to make his first movie, Anaparastasi (1970). Internationally successful was his trilogy about the history of Greece from 1930 to 1970 consisting of Days of '36 (1972), The Travelling Players (1975), and Oi kynigoi (1977). After the end of the dictatorship in Greece, Angelopoulos went to Italy, where he worked with RAI (and more money). His movies then became less political.- Writer
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Nikos Papatakis was born on 5 July 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 17 December 2010 in Paris, France.- Director
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Costa-Gavras was born on 12 February 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.- Director
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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 Engagement (1972) (Anna's Engagement), which won several wards in the Berlin Film Festival, London Film Festival and more. He spent six months in exile during the Greek junta in 1973. Then he made O megalos erotikos (The Great Love Songs) after Manos Hatzidakis's request about this documentary based on his music work.
In 1977 he directed the controversial political allegory Happy Day . In 1980 he directed _Eleftherios Venizelos: 1910-1927 (1980)_, a film based on the life of the Greek politician. In 1985 he directed Petrina hronia (Stone Years), a strong emotional drama in politically turbulent times based on a true story, which won a best actress award in the Venice Film Festival and was a great commercial success. In 1989 he directed I fanela me to '9' (1988), a film about a soccer player.
In 1992 he directed _Isyhes meres tou Avgoustou_ (Quiet Days in August), which won a special mention in the Berlin Film Festival. In 1996 came _Akropol_ based on the Greek theatre of the 50s and then in 1997 he directed It's a long road.
Father of director/actor Alexander Voulgaris and director Konstantina Voulgari.- Director
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Tonia Marketaki was born on 28 July 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 26 July 1994.- Writer
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- Producer
Nikos Nikolaidis was born on 25 October 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 5 September 2007 in Athens, Greece.- Director
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Nicos Perakis was born on 11 September 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).- Cinematographer
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Giorgos Panousopoulos is known for Taxidi tou melitos (1979), Love Me Not? (1989) and Testosteroni (2004). He is married to Betty Livanou.- Director
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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 theatre, and appeared and directed Greek amateur troupes in Cairo. He appeared also in Egyptian films as an extra, as well in 5 Greek films that where shot in Cairo, to be acquainted to the cinema as he aspired to become a film director. In 1957, he traveled to Greece, and studied in the High School of Cinema (Ioannides Vamvakas). He became a professional Assistant director in 1958, working for Nkos Koundouros film "The River" (To Potami). Since then, he organized the Group (Omada) for creating the rising "New Greek Cinema, and became one of the intellectual leaders of the Group. In 1961, he directed his first short film, that was censored by the Minister of Presidency as "anti-touristic". One year later, he directed (credited only as "technical advisor for the direction" the film "Enas Delikanis". By this time, he became a friend and collaborator of french director Jean-Daniel Pollet, and this relation followed until the french director's death. In 1965 he directed his first feature film, and in 1967 he flew to Paris, escaping from the Greek Dictatorship. He returned to Greece in 1973, and since he followed his activities in cinema, theatre, writing, music, journalism etc. In 1986 he met the composer Thesia Panayiotou, and up to now, they are companions in life and creation.- Writer
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stavros Tsiolis was born on 6 October 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 23 July 2019 in Athens, Greece.- Director
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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 he started his career as a director/producer of TV shows for the state TV networks. In 1990 he wrote, directed and co-produced the film "The Dream Factory" which was shot on analogue video and then transferred to 35mm film. The film obtained 8 awards in Greece and the Golden Award of Fantasy Movies in the Houston Film Festival. For several years he directed TV Commercials for Greek and European agencies. His second feature film, "A Touch of Spice", which he wrote, directed and co-produced is a labor of love for him as the story is based, mostly, on true facts drawn from his own life. The film became the biggest hit ever in Greece with over 1.600.00 admissions and has been distributed in 45 countries in all over the world. A "Touch of Spice" has been presented in several festivals around the world and has been awarded with 8 Awards of excellency in Greece. The film was Greece's official entry in the Academy Awards of 2005. His recent academic activities include, teaching classes on Advanced Film Directing, in private institutions in Greece. He is the first unanimously elected president of the Hellenic Film Academy. His third feature, "MYTHOPATHY", a coming of age story of a young man during the 70's in Greece, is a sarcastic comedy, about the Greek political system, and how it ended up in today's crisis. In 2018 he wrote directed an co-produced, the film "1968", a docu-fiction project, presenting the story of A.E.K. an underdog basketball team, founded by refugees in 1924 and after almost 50 years, won the European Champions Cup. He is a member of European Film Academy.- Actor
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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 directed several films and theatre plays. He has also taught cinema at the Department of Communication and Mass Media of Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences from 1993 to 1998.
From 1997 to 2000, and from 2003 to 2010, he served as Artistic Director of the Municipal and Regional Theatre of North Aegean.
Dimos Avdeliodis is known for Mathe paidi mou grammata (1981); The Tree We Hurt (1986); Enas erodios gia ti Germania (1988); Nike of Samothrace (1990); To ainigma (1998), and Fanouropitta (1991).
He has a son, actor Yannis Avdeliodis.- Director
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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 the Best Greek Film Award at the Short Film Festival of Drama in Greece. Also in 1995 another film was released, "3 Steps To Heaven", and in 1998 the "From the Edge of Town" film which was awarded the second Best Award Film by the Greek Ministry of Culture. In 2001 Giannaris filmed "Dekapedavgustos" (On the 15th of August) and in 2004 his "Omiros" (Homer). His films have been shown in many international film festivals and talked about in various fora. His first long film "3 Steps To Heaven" was financed and set in London. Today he lives and works in Athens, Greece.- Director
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Nik Triantafyllidis was born on 9 September 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 7 June 2016 in Athens, Greece.- Director
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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).- Director
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Sotiris Goritsas is known for Ap' to hioni (1993), Ap' ta kokala vgalmena (2011) and Valkanizater (1997).- Director
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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 the air» (documentary) « The Woman who longed for Home» (fiction) Angel and the Weightlifter (fiction). She has received many prizes in Greece and abroad. Her film « A Drop in the Ocean» was presented at the Forum of the Berlin Film Festival, in 1996, where Eleni got the Mionneto Film Award. The same film traveled in many festivals around the world where the main actress Amalia Moutoussi got a few awards. In 2005 « The Woman who Missed Home » got a Special Mention at the Rhodes Eco Film Festival and Nicos Papazoglou got a State Award for the Music of the Film. In 2009 « Angel and the Weightlifter » got a Gold Remi Award in WorldFest Houston. Her last feature length documentary is "Kostis Papagiorgis, the sweetest misanthrope" that got the Greek Association Critics Awards at the 20th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.- Director
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Penny Panagiotopoulou is known for Hard Goodbyes: My Father (2002), September (2013) and Wishbone (2024).- Director
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Katerina Evangelakou is known for Tha to metanioseis (2002), Ores koinis isyhias (2006) and Iagouaros (1994).- Producer
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Athina Rachel Tsangari was born on 2 April 1966 in Aspra Spitia, Greece. She is a producer and director, known for Attenberg (2010), Chevalier (2015) and The Slow Business of Going (2000).- Producer
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Thanos Anastopoulos was born on 26 October 1965 in Athens, Greece. He is a producer and director, known for The Daughter (2012), Diorthosi (2007) and The Last Resort (2016).- Director
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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" where in 1991 the short film "The Fall and Rise of Lydia Von Burer" won the first price. In 1995 he founded in Athens the company "100% Synthetic Films" and started working on his first feature film Attack of the Giant Mousaka, The (2000). His second feature film, Real Life (2004), became a critics' favorite in Greece (won the National Critics Award in 2004), and traveled to the International Toronto Film Festival. He is now working on his third feature film called Strella.- Director
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Christos Dimas is known for Akrovates tou kipou (2001), Tessera (2000) and Enas ouranos gematos asteria (1996).- Actor
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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 MATCHBOX. His second feature, SOUL KICKING, premiered at the International Critics' Week at Cannes Film Festival in 2006. His third feature, KNIFER, premiered at Busan International Film Festival in 2010 and went on to win seven Greek Film Academy Awards including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. His fourth feature, STRATOS, had its world premiere in the Official Competition of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival in 2014.
In 2016 Yannis Economides wrote and directed his first play, SLEEP, STELLA, SLEEP for the New Stage of the National Theatre in Athens, which became a huge critical and commercial hit.
His latest feature, BALLAD FOR A PIERCED HEART, premiered in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and managed to become a box office hit in Greece. The film received 15 Greek Film Academy nominations, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay.
All five of his feature films have been honored with the Greek Film Critics Association Award for Best Greek Feature Film of the Year and have screened at several prestigious international film festivals.
In November 2022, MATCHBOX - THE MUSICAL, premiered at the main stage of "Onassis Stegi", in libretto and artistic direction by Yannis Economides.
Currently, he is preparing his next feature, entitled BROKEN VEIN.- Director
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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 (Deutschen Film- und Fernsehakademie). His short film, Parlez-moi d'amour (1994) was awarded a German Film Prize in 1995. My Sweet Home (2001) was his first feature film.- Composer
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Alexander Voulgaris was born on 22 February 1981 in Athens, Greece. He is a composer and actor, known for Pink (2006), Winona (2019) and Thread (2016).- Director
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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).- Director
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- Cinematographer
Costas Zapas is known for Love, Love, Love (2016), The Last Porn Movie (2006) and Mikres eleftheries (2008).- Director
- Producer
- Writer
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, his first feature film, played at Toronto and Berlin film festivals to critical acclaim. His second feature Dogtooth, won the "Un Certain Regard prize" at the 2009 Cannes film festival, followed by numerous awards at festivals worldwide. It was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award (Oscar) in 2011. Alps won the "Osella for best screenplay" at the 2011 Venice film festival and Best Film at the Sydney film festival in 2012. His first English language film The Lobster was presented in Competition at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. Moreover, "The Lobster" was nominated for the (Oscar about the) Best Original Screenplay by the Academy and won Best Screenplay and Best Costume Design at the European Film Awards of 2015. His fifth project "The Killing of a Sacred Deer" was also presented in Competition at the 70th Cannes Film Festival where it won the award for the best Screenplay. Lanthimos's last film "The Favorite" is a historical Drama about the British Queen Anne.- Director
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Argyris Papadimitropoulos was born in Athens, Greece. He is a director and writer, known for Monday (2020), Suntan (2016) and Wasted Youth (2011).- Director
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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 Sargasso Sea at the Berlinale Panorama 2019. Acclaimed by the world press and audiences for their distinctive style, bold characterization and strong performances, Tzoumerkas' films have participated in many festivals around the world and have been distributed to theaters and streaming platforms in many countries. His co-direction with Christos Passalis, feature film The City and the City, will have its world premiere at the Encounters Competition of the 72nd Berlinale in February 2022. Syllas Tzoumerkas co-wrote the scripts of Argyris Papadimitropoulos' Suntan (Rotterdam, SXSW, 2016) and Ahmad Ghossein's All This Victory (Venice Critics' Week Award, 2019). He participated as an actor in feature films, shorts and stage performances. He has collaborated with Onassis Stegi, the Greek National Opera, Thessaloniki IFF, the blitz theater group, Youla Boudali and others, in multi-platform and theatrical works. He co-curated with fellow director Elina Psykou, Motherland, I See You - the 20th Century of Greek Cinema, the restoration program and moving festival of the Hellenic Film Academy.- Director
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Aris Bafaloukas is known for Apnea (2010), Istories apo tin apenanti ohthi (2007) and To potami (1994).- Editor
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Giorgos Georgopoulos is known for Not to Be Unpleasant, But We Need to Have a Serious Talk (2019), Tungsten (2011) and Kuluhiro: Hope (2011).