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CINEMAby Al. Deffner, Assistant Professor, University of Thessaly

andMarkos Holevas, Director Hellenic Film Commission

The reputation of Greek cinema centres on the work of Theo An-gelopoulos. Cinemawas a very popular cultural activity in the 1950sand 1960s and, although its popularity later declined, it is now ina phase of recovery, mainly due to the building of new venues andthe restoration of older ones. Most of them are in Athens and Thes-saloniki.

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EDUCATION

Private cinema and televisionschools operate like Greekuniver-sities. Acting training is received indrama schools. Almost all of theseschools are located in Athens.

CINEMA CLUBS

Cinema clubs are a phenomenonin Greece. There are 61 throughoutthe country, with themost intenseconcentration in the Ionian Is-lands; there is a similar trend withregard to town bands (see Sectionon Music, data from 1987).

VENUES AND ADMISSIONS

According to the data for 1998, thenumber of cinema units is 319 (3per 100,000 inhabitants). Theirdistribution is the following: 84one-screen venues, 5 two-screenvenues and 8 multiplexes (morethan eight-screen venues), whichis the latest vogue. Multiplexeshave been built in Athens, Thessa-loniki, Patras, one is being built inLarissa, andmore are planned. Re-search shows that Athenians arethe most enthusiastic cinemago-ers. Individual cinemas (like theold outdoor variety) are in decline.The average number of screens pervenue is 1.1 and the total admis-sions stand at 12,4million. Box-of-fice receipts were 61 million ECU(5,8 ECU per inhabitant).

HISTORY

The first full-length Greek featurefilm (“Golfo”, a bucolic melodra-ma) was produced in 1914. Thecountry’smajor studio (Finos Film)was established in 1943. TheGreekfilm industry produced films thatattracted growing audiences de-

spite strict censorship, casualtiessuffered in the hostilities (the civilwar lasted from 1944 till 1949)and the acute poverty of the post-war years. By the late 1950s thefilm industry was at its most dy-namic, experiencing explosive(and profitable) growth. The firsttwo films which attracted signifi-cant international attention were“Stella” (1955), directed byMichaelCacoyannis, and “The Orge ofAthens” (1956), directed by NikosKoundouros.

FILM PRODUCTION

Between 1955 and 1969 Greecewasmaking the highest number offilms per capita in the world. Forseveral years it produced arounda hundred feature films a year:peaking at 117 films in 1966. Thenumber of Greek feature films hasdeclined significantly since 1970.It has dropped from 90 films in1971 to 10 in 1990 and 1992. Thetrend is the opposite for shortfilms. In 1990 130 films were pro-duced, compared to 1971 and 1972(31 films). This is a clear indicationof the difficulty of making featurefilms, unless co-financing is ob-tained (e.g. by the EU).

FOREIGN FILMS PRODUCED

IN GREECE

Greece has been an ideal locationfor the production ofmany foreignfilms: These include “The Boy ona Dolphin” (filmed on Hydra) and“Ill Met by Moonlight” (filmed onCrete) in 1957, “The Guns ofNavarone” in 1961 (the top-gross-ing film of the year, filmed onRhodes). Other examples are “ItHappened in Athens” (referring tothe 1896 Olympics) in 1962, “For

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Your EyesOnly” (a JamesBond filmwith parts filmed in Meteora) in1981, “The Big Blue” (parts filmedon Amorgos) in 1988, “ShirleyValentine” (from Willy Russell’splay, filmed in Mykonos) in 1989,and “Signs andWonders” (filmedin Athens and directed by JonathanNossiter) in 2000. The Italian film“Mediterraneo”, which won theOscar for Best Foreign Languagefilm in 1991, was filmed on Kastel-lorizo in the Dodecanese. The filmthat received extensive coverage inthe international media in 2001was “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin”(from Louis de Bernier’s novel andfilmed on Cephalonia). The mostrecent blockbuster with partsfilmed in Greece (Santorini) is“Lara Croft and the Cradle of Life:Tomb Raider 2”.

DIRECTORS

The most famous director is TheoAngelopoulos. According to lead-ing film critic David Thomson, heis one of the four greatest livingfilm practitioners. His latest film,“Eternity and a Day”, won thePalm d’Or at the Cannes Festival in1998. His film "The Travelling Play-ers" (1975) is considered to be thebest Greek film evermade and oneof the few masterpieces of worldcinema in the last twenty-fiveyears. His films are popular amongGreek audiences, and he has alsowon many awards in the threemost important international filmfestivals (1971 and 1973 at Berlin,1975, 1984 and 1995 at Cannes,and 1980 and 1988 at Venice).

Angelopoulos has continued atradition of important directors ofthe recent past (some of themcontinue towork, albeit sporadical-

ly): They includeMichalis Cacoyan-nis (two Oscars for “Zorba theGreek” in 1964), Alexis Damianos(Best Direction Award at theHyθresFestival for “To the Ship” in 1967),Nikos Koundouros (Best DirectionAward at the Berlin Festival for“Young Aphrodites” in 1963), andRobiros Manthoulis (“Face toFace”, 1966), who made a come-back in 2002 with the film “Lily’sStory”.

Angelopoulos belongs to theschool of “New Greek Cinema”,which emerged during themilitarydictatorship (1967-1974). His film“Reconstruction” (1970) andDami-anos’ film “Evdokia” (1971) are typ-ical examples. New GreekCinemadiffers from the mainstream inthree major respects: a) themati-cally, it focused on Greek social is-sues and the shaping of Greek so-ciety; b) aesthetically, it favouredforms influenced by militant andexperimental cinemas; c) mostproductions were made possibleby the dedicated, often voluntary,contributions of film-makers to

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each other’s films. Audience re-sponse to the new approach wasinitially favourable, but the term“NewGreekCinema” faded some-what in the mid-1980s.

Still active directors who belong tothe New Greek Cinema includethe following: Kostas Ferris (SilverBear Award at the Berlin Festival for“Rembetiko” in 1984), Frieda Liap-pa (Award SIGA at the San Sebas-tian Festival for “A Quiet Death” in1986), ToniaMarketaki (First Awardat the Festival of MediterraneanCivilisation for “The Price of Love”at Bastia, Corsica, in 1984). Othersinclude Nikos Panayotopoulos(two awards in two different festi-vals for “The Idlers of the FertileValley” in 1978), Nikos Papatakis,Nikos Perakis (also made films inGermany), and Pandelis Voulgaris(two awards at the Valencia Festi-val for “Stone Years” in 1986).

In recent years a new generation of

promising directors has appeared:Here one should mention SotirisGoritsas (three awards at two dif-ferent festivals for the 1993 film“From the Snow”), Pericles Hour-soglou (Golden Dolphin at the Fes-trόia - Trόia International Film Fes-tival for “The Man in Grey” in1998), Antonis Kokkinos (CrystalGlobe at the Karlovy Vary Interna-tional Film Festival for “End of anEra” in 1995) and Constantine Gi-annaris (three international awardsfor the 1998 film “From the Edge ofthe City”) are also noteworthy.

Many important directors of Greekorigin have been working abroad(mainly in the USA). They includeJohn Cassavetes (Golden Lion for“Gloria” at the Venice Festival in1980, and also a very talented ac-tor), George PanCosmatos (“Tomb-stone”, a box-office hit in 1993) andCosta Gavras (AdaptedScreenplayOscar for “Missing” in 1982). In thisgroupwe also find Elia Kazan (Best

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Director Oscars for “A Gentleman’sAgreement” in 1947 and for “Onthe Waterfront” in 1954), GeorgeMiller (“Mad Max” 1, 2 and 3),Alexander Payne (“Citizen Ruth”,1996) and Agnes Varda (GoldenLion for “Vagabonde” at theVeniceFestival in 1985). Jules Dassin,Melina Mercouri’s husband, wasborn in the US, but is a naturalisedGreek and won two awards at theCannes Festival (for “Rififi” in 1955and for “He Who Must Die” in1957). A surprising hit of 2002 inUSAwas the film “MyBig Fat GreekWedding” (written byNiaVardalos,who also starred, and produced byTom Hanks and his wife Rita Wil-son, who is also of Greekorigin). Arecent phenomenon is the strongpresence, also related to the sizeof the Greek community, of Greekdirectorsworking in Australia: AnaKokkinos, Nadia Tass (“Amy”,1998), John Tatoulis (“Zone 39”,1997) andAleksi Vellis (“WogBoy”,2000).

ACTORS

There aremany Greek actors (or ofGreek origin) who have appearedin foreign films: These includeJennifer Aniston (Golden Globes,Golden Satellite, Emmy, AmericanComedy and Screen Actors GuildAwards for the TV series “Friends”)andGeorge Chakiris (BestSupport-ing Actor Oscar for “West SideStory” in 1961). Others includeOlympia Dukakis (Best SupportingActress Oscar for “Moonstruck” in1987), Spiros Focas (acted inmanyItalian films in the 1960s), EliasKoteas (acted in most of AtomEgoyan’s films), Alexis Minotis(“Notorius”, directed by AlfredHitchcock in 1946), Irene Papas(active since 1954), Katina Paxinou(wife of Minotis, Supporting Ac-tress Oscar for “For Whom theBell Tolls” in 1943), Telly andGeorgeSavalas (TV series “Kojak”),Titos Vandis (active from 1960 till1989, mainly in the USA), AndreasVoutsinas (“Big Blue”, 1988) and

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YorgoVoyagis (active from 1964 till1992). An actor who found interna-tionally fame through the 2001 film“15 Seconds” (“forcing” RobertDe Niro to speakGreek) wasMeli-na Kanakaredes. Τhe most recentsuccesses by an actor were the twoawards (the Australian Film Insti-tute and Film Critics Circle of Aus-tralia Awards) for best actress thatMaria Theodorakis received forthe film “Walking onWater” (Aus-tralia, 2002).

The most charismatic personalitywas Melina Mercouri - actress,singer and politician. She acted inmany of Dassin’s films, and wonthe Best Actress Award for “Neveron Sunday” at the Cannes Festivalin 1960. She was also theMinisterof Culture in all the PASOK govern-ments till her death (from 1981 till1989, and from 1993 till 1994).

POPULAR TYPES OF FILM

The most popular film genres arecomedy and melodrama. PopularGreek comedy developed after

World War II, reaching its peak in1955. It was influenced by numer-ous sources, such as theatre (re-vues, variety, farce, travellingtroupes), cinema (Italian comedy),ancient Greek comedy (Aristo-phanes), circus, country fairs andshows, shadow puppet theatre,etc. Themain format is stereotypesfrom the lower middle classes.An example belonging to this pe-riod is the film “The CounterfeitCoin” (1955, director Yiorgos Tza-vellas).

After the early 1960s Greek come-dies lost their farcical elements,and became musicals influencedby Hollywood musicals. Thesewere sometimes more popularthan the earlier farces. In themid-1970s Greek comedy virtually dis-appeared, along with commercialGreek cinema in general. This wasdue to the increasing popularity oftelevision. However, these filmsare among the most popular pro-grammes on TV. Comedies contin-ue to be produced, such as thefilms directed by Nikos Perakis.

Melodrama forms the core ofmain-stream Greek cinema. The keytheme is human relationships.Greekmelodrama can be dividedinto three categories: “art”, “high”and “melo”. “Art” and “high”melodramas were less commonbut had more critical prestige.“High”melodramawas influencedbyHollywood, “art”melodrama byItalian neo-realism (“The MagicCity”, 1954, directed by NikosKoundouros), while the “melo”was built on aspects of MiddleEastern and Asian cinema.

A genre that has not been verypopular but has an important his-

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tory is documentary. The first filmever made in Greece was a news-reel of the interim Olympics of1906. The documentary developedin the late 1950s and 1960s. The1967 coup put an end to it. Afterthe fall of the dictatorship in 1974feature-length political documen-taries were produced for the firsttime. By the 1980s, the productionof documentary films had de-clined. Themost important directorwho specialised in documentariesis Vassilis Maros, who has wonawards in various festivals. Anunexpected recent artistic andcommercial success was the film“Mourning Rock” (2000).

In the heyday of commercial cine-ma, Greek films accounted for 16percent of the total and a 25 per-cent share of the national box of-fice; Hollywood provided 45 per-cent of the films and took aboutthe same market share.

Greek films are not very popularnowadays: between September2001 andMay 2002, amongst the

40 most popular films shown inGreece there were only two Greekfilms: “One Day in August” (direct-ed by Yannaris, Golden Berlin Bearat the Berlin International FilmFestival in 2002) and “SiliconTears”. The latter was in 5th posi-tion and was directed by ThanasisPapathanasiou andMichalis Rep-pas, who also directed the film thatsold themost tickets in the historyof Greek cinema, the 1999 comedy“Safe Sex” (around 1 million ad-missions).

INSTITUTIONS

The Greek Film Centre (GFC) wasset up in 1970 as a profit-makingsubsidiary of the Greek Industrialand Development Bank. In 1982the Ministry of Culture offered toprovide substantial aid to promotethe quality of Greek films. In 1983,theGFCbegan to finance scriptwrit-ing. In 1986 a special departmentcalled “Hellas Film”was created topromote Greek films abroad. By1988 the GFC was the only Greekfilm production company in exis-

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tence. Almost all “New” Greekfilmmakers had received fundsfrom its co-production programme,and it remains today the mainGreekproducer of new films (someof them international co-produc-tions). Funds are raised through apercentage of cinema receipts,under the administration of theMinistry of Culture. Anothermeansof state involvement has been theannual State Cinema Awards.

HELLENIC FILM

COMMISSION OFFICE

In the decade 1955-1965Greece at-tracted the interest of various in-ternational producerswho decidedto exploit the country’s light, itslandscape but very often also itsmyths. These films were major in-ternational box-office hits. To namebut a few, who can forget “Boy ona Dolphin” (1957) starring SophiaLoren and Alan Ladd, “The Guns ofNavarone” (1961) with an all-starcast that included Gregory Peck,David Niven, Anthony Quinn and

Irene Papas, and “Zorba theGreek” (1964) with AnthonyQuinnand Alan Bates in the lead roles?To date, films of all genres havebeen shot in Greece from time totime, as well as television pro-grammes and commercials, which,however, were filmed mostly onthe Greek islands. The visualwealth of the Greek hinterland,slightly familiar from the films ofTheo Angelopoulos, is, in essence,virgin territory. The need for newimages in the film industry has ledto a boom in optical effects and thequest for visually pristine locations.Just think, how many more ro-mantic comedies can still befilmed in Paris? At a timewhen thefilm industry has exhausted, visu-ally, many regions of the planet,Greece offers a wide variety ofnatural locations that are rich inunique historical monuments andtraditional architecture.

But apart from its natural beautythe country also offers a moderninfrastructure for handling interna-tional film productions, production

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companieswith a record of partic-ipations in international produc-tions, experienced crews and serv-ice companies that can provideyou with the necessary equip-ment.

In Greece you will not find largestudios. Those you can find inother countries. What we do havehere are excellent locations,unique monuments, history andmyths that you will not find inother countries, all under the bestlight of the sun.

In 2007, within the framework ofthe Greek Film Centre’s operations,the Hellenic Film Commission Of-fice was established for the pur-pose of providing every possibleservice so that you can shoot yourfilm in Greece.

THE GREEK FILM CENTRE

AND ITS ACTIVITIES

The Greek Film Centre (GFC) is theprincipal lever for the implemen-tation of state film policy. It oper-

ates in the public interest in accor-dance with the rules of the privateeconomy and under state supervi-sion. Its basic goals are the protec-tion and development of the art offilm in Greece and the exhibition,dissemination and promotion ofGreek film production domesticallyand internationally.

Seven funding programmes havebeen developed in order to fulfilthe GFC’s basic goal, which is thesupport of Greek film production.Through these programmes fund-ing is provided for large-scale aswell as independent productions,short films, documentaries, anima-tion films, films by new directorsand scriptwriting projects.

At the same time, in recent yearsthere has been amajor attempt tofoster partnerships, sponsorshipsand new programmes that willstrengthen the relations and pres-ence of the GFC in Greece and in-ternationally. All the above haveturned the focus of GFC policy in aspecific direction.

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a. On a national level

It continues its collaboration withall the institutional agencies in re-viewing the legislative frameworkthat concerns cinema. Throughspecific funding programmes itaims at developing and supportingGreek scriptwriting.

It plans a new,modern and dynam-ic promotional and communica-tions policy which, for the time be-ing, is being implemented in twoways: with the publication of “RollCamera”, the GFC’s new bi-month-lymagazine, aswell as by updatingits website.

Finally it is creating educationalprogrammes aimed at children ei-ther as viewers or creators, with thegoal of familiarizing them withthe seventh art.

b. On an international level

It organizes retrospectives andevents on Greek cinema in collab-oration with international film cen-tres that assure Greek films of in-ternational recognition and intro-duces them into the internationalmarketplace.

It presents Greek film activity, in-cluding its theoretical work, inthe European and international

arena with the help of a variety ofpartnerships and exchanges withinternational agencies.

It is collaborating with the HellenicMinistries of Tourism and Culturefor the purpose of creating a FilmCommissionOffice thatwill operatealong the linesof Europeanmodelsas an “umbrella” for Greekand for-eign businessmenwhowould liketo become active in our country inthe area of film production.

USEFUL LINKS

Greek Film Center

www.gfc.gr

International Thessaloniki Film Festival

www.filmfestival.gr

USEFUL ADRESSES

Greek National Committee of UNESCO

Academias 3

Athens 106 71

Ministry of Culture

Bouboulinas 20

Athens 106 82

Ministry of Culture

Directorate of RelationsbetweenGreece and

the European Union

Place Karytsi 10

Athens 101 86

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Directorate of International Cultural Affairs

Academias 1

Athens 106 71