55th THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
31 October-9 November 2014
1914 – 2014: 100 YEARS OF GREEK CINEMA
31 October-9 November 2014
1914 – 2014: 100 YEARS OF GREEK CINEMA
«One year? Really? That’s a lifetime...»
The Song of Separation, 1939
The first Greek talking picture and the only one directed byrenowned Greek producer Filopimin Finos
The 55th Thessaloniki International Film Festival honors and celebrates the 100-year anniversary of Greek Cinema and invites its audience to participate in a unique tribute.
A list of 200 films in total, starting with the film Golfo (1914) by Kostas Bachatoris, will be posted on the Festival’s website (on Thursday September 4th) and audiences will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite films. The films with the most votes will be screened during the 55th TIFF as part of the tribute, which will showcase the history of Greek cinema through the first silent and talking pictures, the work of important directors and popular protagonists, as well as a selection of awarded films and samples of various film genres, waves and movements.
Here are a few highlights of Greek Film History:
- Kostas Bachatoris’ Golfo (1914) is the first Greek feature film. It cost 100.000 golden drachmas, but was not successful at the box office and forced Bachatoris to close down his company.
- When Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos saw the film Astero by Dimitris Gaziadis in 1929 he became so enthralled that he reduced taxation of Greek films from 30% to 10%.
- The film Marinos Kontaras (1948) by Yorgos Tzavellas is the first Greek film to participate in an international film festival (Knokke le Zoute, Belgium), whereas Greg Tallas, aka Grigoris Thalassinos, is the first director to win an international award for his film The Barefoot Battalion (1953) at the 1954 Edinburgh International Film Festival (for Best Original Music).
- Following the screening of Mihalis Cacoyannis’ Electra (1962) in Cannes, MGM offered its producer Filopimin Finos a position as the studio’s technical director. He didn’t accept their offer.
- In 1957 the film The Travelling Players by Theodoros Angelopoulos is screened at the Cannes International Film Festival. After the screening among the enthusiastic viewers is also director Werner Herzog, who famously approaches Theodoros Angelopoulos, kneels before him and kisses his feet.
Greek cinema is continually evolving. The latest wave of interest in Greek films, which participate and stand out in major international film festivals has provided a renewed boost in national production. The 100 year anniversary does not signify an end, but an opening up to new directions.
Taking cue, TIFF also opens up a dialogue with its audience, asking them to vote for films that they hold dear or haven’t had a chance to enjoy yet. The 200-film list is not in any case a primer to Greek cinema. It does not include entire filmographies, nor the sum of the Greek directors who have contributed to Greek cinema’s course. The films of TIFF President Yannis Smaragdis will be, as per his wish, not included in the list. Also absent from the list will be multi-awarded films and popular box office hits, which are still often screened on TV. The list comprises films that have left their mark either at the time of their release, or in later years, and stands as an occasion to celebrate the 100 years of Greek Films.
The full list will be available on the TIFF website, www.filmfestival.gr
