In the framework of the 44th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, the Thessaloniki Film Museum in collaboration with the Organization for the Promotion of Greek Culture have organized the exhibition of giant posters from the Hellafi collection that depicts memorable stars from Greek and international cinema as well as the history and aesthetics of an entire era. Hellafi has managed to preserve the art of Greek giant posters that emerged in the 50s’ and has offered its collection for display in the exhibition.
The exhibition takes place in the Old Customs Building of the Thessaloniki Port and in the Thessaloniki Film Museum. Attending the exhibition’s opening was Minister of Culture, Evangelos Venizelos, who spoke about the importance of this valuable material to the history of cinema. “We want Thessaloniki to be the capital of Greek cinema, the city of cinema, because of the Thessaloniki Film Festival and its inhabitants’ support for cinema, especially the younger generation. The Festival owes it to them, to the students and to the devotion and support it has received from the city in general. As you know, in recent years the Thessaloniki Film Festival has become an institution with legal status, with the capability to organize a multitude of events, with a permanent home, the Olympion theatre, and the ability to expand in times of need, here, at the Thessaloniki Port in Pier A which is a place of culture. The Festival is present throughout the year organizing eminent activities, such as the Documentary Festival and the educational program Let’s Cinema”.
The Minster of Culture also spoke about the Thessaloniki Film Museum: “The Thessaloniki Film Museum, a new institution, was founded and is in operation since 1997next to the Festival, here in the Port. It is an institution that operates not only as a museum, but also as a cinema guild and a film archive. We need this institution to operate exclusively, -in harmony with the Festival- and play its own important and vital role. The Director of the Museum, Mr. Katsaggelos, the President, Tasos Psaras, the members of the committee and the ex-president, Apostolos Papagiannopoulos have made enormous efforts for the operation of the Museum. I am extremely happy to see it obtain a new, larger dimension, thanks to the Hellafi collection that was acquired by the State, by the Organization for the Promotion of Greek Culture, the Cultural Olympiad, and made available to the Thessaloniki Film Museum which is now essentially the owner of this substantial material”.
In reference to the Hellafi collection, Mr. Venizelos said, “The collection represents a compilation of cinema memoirs from the 50s’, 60s’ and 70s’. It consists of large format drawings from well-known painters that are aimed towards the public and carry out an advertising, as well as communicative role. Many of the artists are prominent scholars, thereby granting us a corpus of an entire genre of art. Despite the cheap materials, the art is magnificent, with expressive characters and scenes shrewdly and carefully chosen. The audience has identified with these giant posters as a form of communication and presentation of new films –often twice a week- and with the allure of going to the movies. Moreover, the process of initiating the audience began with photographs, with these giant posters and continued in front of the big screen throughout the year. This constitutes important material for the history of Greek and international cinema, and it makes me happy that is assumed in Greece and present in Thessaloniki”.
The Minister of Culture stated that the collection will travel to other cities in Greece, as well as abroad. “The collection offers the groundwork upon which modern Greek film production is accented. This year is crucial for modern Greek film production as audience attendance is on the rise and its relationship with the audience is changing. Ticket sales are as much as ten times higher than last year’s and this seems to be the general mood. The Director of the Festival, Michel Demopoulos, told me that attendance has risen 20% during the first days of the Festival. This is extremely important because a rise from 75,000 to 90,000 ticket sales constitutes the largest cultural event of the country organized by the Ministry of Culture. I would like to welcome the Hellafi collection to its permanent home, here at the picturesque Old Customs building and wish the best to the Museum during its new season with the Hellafi collection, as well its collaboration with the Festival. I would also like to wish the best to all cinemagoers and I hope they enjoy these old cinema memoirs”.
Attending the exhibition’s opening were the Director of the Thessaloniki Film Festival, Michel Demopoulos, Deputy Director, Andonis Kioukas, Director of the Thessaloniki Film Museum, Yorgos Katsaggelos, Member of Parliament, Spyros Bougias, film critics and cinemagoers.
