In the 1984 TIFF edition, Nikos Perakis’ film won four awards (Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Leading Actor), marking with its success the career of the Greek director. The exhibition takes place on the occasion of the filmmaker’s decision to donate his archive to ELIA-MIET and is organized by the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation (MIET) with the support of TIFF. Part of the filmmaker’s archives were selected to be presented at the exhibition, including documents and archive material from all stages of the film's production, the logo and storyboard, as well as behind-the-scenes photos, promotional and release material, but also Nikos Perakis’ personal photos taken during his military service in the Greek Armed Forces Television Network, which provided him with inspiration for the film.
“I sent over a lot of material. The exhibition presents part of this, maybe half of it”, Mr. Perakis said, adding the following: “Maybe I collected all these items by instinct, because I wanted to safe keep the films’ material. Since the moment you start saving the actors' phone-numbers, in case you need them for your next film, you keep the photos and gradually you start keeping everything. And since I have a child and I don't want to... punish it, I decided to donate the entire material to MIET”.
The director confessed that he was surprised by the suggestion to have an exhibition organized. “The idea was not mine, but belonged to the MIET director Dionysis Kapsalis”, Mr. Perakis explained. “I thought about it and decided. For the first time I saw the exhibition here, to be honest, I also saw my own photos and was rather scared”. When asked if this is a retro exhibition, the director replied: “No. It is a work exhibition. Especially now, the new media are interested a lot in the backstage and the film's making-of, whereas in the past we didn't have a clear idea about what it means to shoot a film. Nowadays, one knows more about the film's production rather than about the film itself”.
On the occasion of the exhibition Nikos Perakis remembered the film’s shooting and underlined: “The shooting was as adventurous as a military operation, we used to film in stealth in the Evelpidon / Military Academy School buildings before they were delivered to the Ministry of Justice. As we couldn't figure out who would issue a license for us to shoot there, we just got in and started filming. On the last day they threw us out. Thankfully, we had done the shooting in time. This film was completed at the last minute; everything went well thanks to the idea and the boldness of our then producer Vasilis Katsoufis, current president of the Hellenic Film Academy”.
MP Kostas Gkioulekas, MIET director Dionysis Kapsalis, who organized the exhibition along with Ioanna Mantzavinou, the director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival Orestis Andreadakis, director Giorgos Tsemberopoulos, actress Tonia Sotiropoulou and several other friends and admirers of Nikos Perakis’ work were present at the opening of the exhibition.
The exhibition will be open until Saturday, December 9, 2017, admission free. Opening hours: Monday, Wednesday 9:00-15:30, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9:00-20:00, Saturday 9:30-16:00.
