COMPLETE FILMOGRAPHY

LEFTERIS XANTHOPOULOS

GREEK COMMUNITY IN HEIDELBERG
1976, 16 mm, Col & B/W, 00:30 min. Production: Greek Community of Heidelberg.
First part of a trilogy dealing with the question of immigration, from the viewpoint of a collective organization, the Community of Greek immigrants in the Heidelberg region, in the Federal Republic of Germany. The Greek guest workers, gästarbeiter, in the industrially developed central and northern Europe in the mid 70s.

GIORGOS FROM SOTIRIANIKA
1978, 16 mm & Super-8, Col, 00:47 min. Production: G. Kozompolis.
The second part of the trilogy dealing with the subject of immigration, from the viewpoint of a successful Greek immigrant, the restaurant owner Giorgos Kozompolis who emigrated in the mid 1960’s from the poor village of Sotirianika, in Mani to the developed city of Heidelberg in the Federal Republic of Germany.

AT TOURKOVOUNIA (IN ATHENS TODAY)
1982, 16 mm, Col, 00:25 min. Production: Giorgos Emirzas and the Greek Film Center.
The third part of the trilogy dealing with the topic of immigration. Greek internal migrants in Athens, after the Greek Civil War colonize the tops of the Tourkovounia hills. The issue of uncontrolled building construction. The stubborn fight for the irrefutable right to housing.

TWO OR THREE THINGS ABOUT MILK
1982, 16 mm, Col, 00:19 min. Production: Greek Ministry of Agriculture for the ERT show Greece is not just Athens.
The milk production process from the stables to the processing and pasteurization factory facilities in the small co-operative unit ASPRO, in Aspropirgos, Attica.

KYPARISSIA – ATHENS, FIRST CLASS (THE TRUCK DRIVER)
1982, 16 mm, Col, 00:12 min. Production: Greek Ministry of Agriculture for the ERT show Greece is not just Athens.
The route of a truck driver who carries fresh vegetables from Kyparissia in Peloponnesus to the central fruit market of Athens. The script was written in collaboration with Giorgos Bramos.

NIKISIANI, THE VILLAGE WITH 18 CHURCHES
1982, 16 mm, Col, 00:25 min. Production: ERT for C. Christodoulos’ series ERT in northern Greece.
The rich history of the village Nikisiani, on the mountainside of Paggaio Oros, west of Kavala, Macedonia, from pre-historic times and the era of Filippos, to the Byzantine period, and up until today.

GIORGOS PEGIOS, THE STORY OF A TOBACCO WORKER, PART ONE
1982, 16 mm, Col, 00:25 min. Production: ERT for C. Christodoulos’ series ERT in northern Greece.
Through the personal story of the militant tobacco worker and unionist Giorgos Pegios, unfolds the story of tobacco production, the hard struggles and tobacco worker movement in Kavala during the mid-war era.

GIORGOS PEGIOS, THE STORY OF A TOBACCO WORKER, PART 2
1982, 16 mm, Col, 00:25 min. Production: ERT for C. Christodoulos’ series  ERT in northern Greece.
The continuation and the end of the narration of the militant tobacco worker Giorgos Pegios on the history of tobacco, the tobacco question in the mid-war period and the decline of tobacco production during the first post-war years.

VOTING RIGHTS FOR IMMIGRANTS AND MARITIME WORKERS
1982, 16 mm, Col, 00:30 min. Production: Giorgos Emirzas for Nasia Mihalopoulou’s ex YENED (ERT) programme Open Issues.
The militant struggle of the Federation of Greek Immigrants and maritime workers to win the right to vote in the Greek national elections, at their place of residence and in their workplaces.

COPYRIGHT THEFT
1982, 16 mm, Col, 00:30 min. Production: Giorgos Emirzas for Nasia Mihalopoulou’s ex YENED (ERT) programme Open Issues.
The pirate music tapes that are illegally produced, circulated, and sold uncontrollably. The subversion of quality and the income loss for the creators, state and copyright holders as well as the role of the AEPI.

AT COLONUS
1983, 16 mm, Col, 00:45 min. Production: Cinematography Department of the Ministry of Culture.
The history of this ancient neighborhood of Athens, the municipality of Colonus, birthplace of the tragic poet Sophocles, with the guide Thanasis Skroubelos, novelist and script writer who lives in Colonus.

MUSICAL HOMMAGE TO POP SINGER MANOLIS MITSIAS
1983, 16 mm, Col, 00:55 min. Production: Giorgos Emirzas LTD for the ERT-1 show, Musical Dedications.
The music and the life course of the singer Manolis Mitsias from the village where he was born, Doubia in Chalkidiki, to the small music stages in Thessalonica and in Athens during the years of the dictatorship.

POPULAR EDUCATION
1984, 16 mm, Col, 00:30 min. Production: Department of Popular Education of the Ministry of Education and ERT, for the ERT-1 programme The Greek Documentary.
The efforts for the establishment and function of centers for popular education all over the country. The script was written in collaboration with author Thanasis Skroubelos.

THE WEDDING
1984, 16 mm, Col, 00:50 min. Production: ERT for the The Greek Tele-play.
The story of a young man from rural Greece, who tries to find and understand himself and his environment. Based on the short novel The Wedding by Dimitris Nolas, the script was written by Thanasis Skroubelos, staring Dimitris Kataleifos and Pemi Zouni.

HAPPY HOMECOMING, COMRADE - BELOIANNISZ
1986, 35 mm, Col, full-length feature-documentary film, 00:90 min. and television version (complete work) in the form of a mini-series of 3 x 45 min episodes. Production: Lefteris Xanthopoulos, Greek Film Center and ET-1. The script was written in collaboration with Thanasis Skroubelos, Giorgos Bramos and Fekete Ibolya.
The Greek political refugees from the civil war (1946-1949) in the village Beloiannisz, which they built on their own, close to Budapest in Hungary, in the early 1950s. Their lives under forced exile and their unending desire to return home.

THE CARNIVAL AND KARAGIOZIS – GIANNIS KIOURTSAKIS
1987, 16 mm, Col, 00:52 min. Production: Cinetic for the ET-1 programme Paraskinio(Backstage).
Based on the book The Carnival and Karagiozis by the writer Giannis Kiourtsakis, a Bachtine translator, this documentary researches the roots and origins of popular laughter, from the subversive happenings of the carnival to the popular spectacles and the traditional shadow theatre with its Greek star Karagiozis.

PASSAGES – PAVLOS ZANAS
1988, 16 mm, Col, 00:52 min. Production: Cinetic for the ET-1 programme  Paraskinio(Backstage).
The portrait of an especially prominent thinker and fighter against the Colonels’ Dictatorship in Greece.  Pavlos Zanas (1929-1989), intellectual, writer, translator of Marcel Proust and pioneer of the cinema clubs movement in Greece in the early 50’s. Zannas speaks with direct and vivid words about his life, his grandmother Penelope Delta, about hiw birthplace Thessalonica during his youth and about History.

THE GREAT PROCESSION – ALEXIS PANSELINOS
1988, 16 mm, Col, 00:52 min. Production: Cinetic for the ET-1 programme Paraskinio (Backstage).
From the book The Great Procession by Alexis Panselinos, that depicts the efforts of a young person to socially ascend by all means and in parallel the world of science- fiction is revealed through the comics that the hero reads. When fantasy becomes reality and the reverse.

THE SCULPTOR COSTAS VALSAMIS
1989, 16 mm, Col, 00:25 min. Production: ERT for the Vaso Kanellopoulou ET-1 show Periscope.
Life and work of the sculptor Costas Valsamis (1905-2003) from Symi, Dodecanese, permanent resident of Paris since 1945 and member of the French Academy since 1987. His most famous sculpture, the Mother of the Nazzi Occupation is situated at the entrance of the First Cemetery of Athens.

TASOS ROUSSOS, writer (06.03 min)
APOSTOLOS DOXIADIS, writer (07.23 min)
REA GALANAKI, writer (07.30 min)
GIORGOS KAKOULIDIS, poet (05.11 min)
NELLY’S, photographer (06.03 min)
1989 Eumatic, Col. Production: Orama (Loukia Rikaki) for the ET-1 show Colors.
Five independent mini-portraits of contemporary creators, about life, art, creation and death.

TRADITIONAL TYPOGRAPHY – EMILIOS KALIAKATSOS
1989, 16 mm, Col, 00:17. Production: ERT for the Spiros Katsimis ET-1 programme Art and Culture.
The traditional technique of book printing, typesetting by hand, linotype, the press, the inks, the papers through the eyes of a craftsman of the trade, publisher and typographer Emilio Kaliakatsos, founder of Stigmi Publications.

MASTER OF THE SHADOWS (O DRAPETIS)
1991, 35 mm, Col, feature film 110 min and television version (complete work) in the form of a mini-series of 5 x 45 min. episodes. Production: Lefteris Xanthopoulos, Greek Film Center and ET-1. The script was written in collaboration with Lefteris Kaponis.
The inevitable end of an era. The Karagiozis performer Antonis Barkas, during the early 1950s, dies along with the art that he has been serving. Cinema, the mass form of entertainment that rapidly spreads all over the cities and countryside, drives out the traditional popular shadow theater, with its 150 year history. The Karagiozis performer refuses to submit and adjust. He chooses his own departure.

LA CULTURE POPULAIRE DANS LE CINEMA GREC
(POPULAR CULTURE IN THE GREEK CINEMA)
1991, Beta, Col & B/W, 00.52 min. French and Greek versions.
Production: Cameras Continentales, Paris for the French TV Channel “La Sept/Arte”. Producer: Harris Davas.
The impact that rich popular local culture has had on the Greek Cinema from the black and white productions of the silent film period (the end of the 1920s) up until the films of today.

WHO THE CRAZY HARE IS – MILTOS SAHTOURIS
1992, 16mm, Col, 00.30 min. Production: Alexandros-Film for the ET-1 programme Words of the City.
A portrait of the leading Greek poet Miltos Sahtouris (1919-2005) during his mature years, when he had brought nearly the totality of his poetic work to full fruition.

WITHOUT AN ALIBI
1993, Beta, Col, 00.52 min. Tele-play.  Production: Frenzy Films, for the ANT-1 series Anatomy of a Crime. Scenario: Petros Markaris.
A tale of passion. A crime remains unsolved and an innocent person is wrongly convicted, until one small detail leads to the real killer.

THE BLUE FILE
1993, Beta, Col, 00.52 min. Tele-play. Production: Frenzy Films, for the ANT-1 series Anatomy of a Crime. Scenario: Petros Markaris.
An up-and-coming politician is found dead, murdered with a bullet in the chest. The killer escapes undetected, until the victim’s wife, who was systematically cheating on her husband, discovers who the real killer is.

TRADITIONAL TYPOGRAPHY
1998, Beta and DVC, Col, 00.30 min. Production: Cinetic, for the ET-1 programme Paraskinio(Backstage).
The author Elias Papadimitrakopoulos, the graphic artist Dimitris Arvanitis and the typographer Emilios Kaliakatsos guide us through all the amazing steps of producing a book in the traditional way.

THE DARK CONSPIRATOR – MIHALIS KATSAROS
1998, Beta and DVC, Col, 00.52 min. Production: Cinetic, for the ET-1 programme Paraskinio(Backstage).
The major post-war poet, Mihalis Katsaros (1919-1988), caustically satirizes himself and everything else, sings and recites his poetry, speaking in allegory and indirect references about his life and his work. Poets of the younger generation Giorgos Kakoulidis, Giorgos Markopoulos and Giorgos Hronas attempt with their own personal views to complete the picture of the heretic poet and his complex personality.

INHERITOR OF THE BIRDS – MILTOS SAHTOURIS
2004, Beta and DVC, Col, 00.52 min. Production: Cinetic for the ET-1 programme Paraskinio(Backstage).
The second part on Miltos Sahtouris (1919-2005). The poet, reticent, worn out by the ravages of time, attempts to chronicle his life, just before his final departure. Sahtouris’ faithful childhood friend professor Thanos Konstantinidis and the poets Giannis Dallas and Dimitris Kosmopoulos share their thoughts on the poet and his work.

ON THE WINGS OF THE WIND – COSTAS KENTERIS
2004, Beta, Col, 00.11 min. Production: ERT and EBU (European Broadcasting Union) for the series Olympic Storie,s ET-1 and EBU. Producer: Stefanos Agorastakis (ERT).
Short fiction, where the childhood years on the island of Lesbos of Olympic champion runner Costas Kenteris are interwoven with the periods of his great efforts, the difficulties he faced, the intense competition and international recognition which followed.

THE GARDEN WITH THE INNUMERABLE WINDOWS – NIKOS EGGONOPOULOS
2005, DVC, Col, 00.52 min. Production: Cinetic, for the ET-1 programme Paraskinio(Backstage).
The life and work of the genius surrealist Greek poet and painter Nikos Eggonopoulos (1907-1985). The poet’s wife, Lena Eggonopoulou and the researcher/ art-collector Dimitris Bageris speak of the artist and his work. It includes an extensive reference to his works of art and remarkable poetry.
BLESSED HANDS – CHRISTOS KAPRALOS
2005, DVC, Col, 00.52 min. Production: Cinetic for the ET-1 programme Paraskinio(Backstage).
A concert of the New Greek Quartet held in the Sculpture Gallery where the monumental wood sculptures of Christos Kapralos (1909-1993) are exhibited provides the background for a guided tour of Kapralos’ work and life by his lifelong partner, Souli Kapralou. We follow the life course of the sculptor and creator from Panaitolio, Agriniou where he was born into poverty in rural Greece, to Athens and Paris where he studied art and sculpture and finally to Aegina island where he lived and created the greater part of his important work.

A MAGNIFICENT PERSON – KONSTANTINOS KARATHEODORI
2006, DVC, Col., 00.52 min. Production: Cinetic, for the ET-1 programme Paraskinio(Backstage).
The life and work of the eminent mathematician of the Greek Diaspora, Konstantinos Karatheodori (1873– 1950), one of the leading mathematicians of the 20th century on an international level, who lived, developing his mathematical theories and taught at some of the greatest universities in Germany.

WHITE BEARD – GIORGOS BRAMOS
2006, DVC, Col., 00.10 min. Production: CL Productions for the ET-1 programme Hotel Triton.
A mini-portrait of the author and prominent film critic Giorgos Bramos on the publication of his third book, a short story collection entitled, White Beard (Aspra Genia).

AT HOME BY THE SEA – E. H. PAPADIMITRAKOPOULOS
2007, DVC, Col, 00.53 min. Production: Cinetic for the ET-1 programme, Paraskinio (Backstage).
The well-known author Elias Papadimitrakopoulos, who worked throughout his life as an army physician comes from Pirgos in Ileias. He has been living in complete harmony, with his wife Niovi, a physician as well, and their 60 some cats, since the early 1980s on their farm in the island of Paros which can easily be characterized as a small earthly paradise.

GEORGIOS N. PAPANIKOLAOU – PAP TEST
2008, DVC, Col, 00.52 min. Production: Cinetic, for the ET-1 programme Paraskinio(Backstage).
Georgios N. Papanikolaou (1883-1962) from Kymi in Evia island, with studies in medicine, philosophy and biology in Athens, Freiberg, Iena and Monaco, leaves Greece in 1913, together with his wife Mahi, with 250 $ in his pocket to pursue the “American Dream” as an immigrant in New York.
Papanikolaou discovered and established the now well-known Pap tes, after many years of laborious research and personal struggles. This preventive gynecological exam detecting cervical cancer, today saves millions of women’s lives the world over.

THE AGE OF THE CENTAURS – COMPOSER ALEKOS XENOS
2009, documentary, DVC, Col, 00.51 min. Production: Cinetic for the ET-1 programme Paraskinio (Backstage).
Alekos Xenos belongs to a previous age where people had the strength, the endurance and the wisdom of the mythic centaurs. Armed with rich musical traditions of his unique native Zakynthos, Xenos comes to Athens in 1930 and studies music at the Athens Conservatory. By the time of his death, he has written more than 120 symphonies. During the German Occupation, he wrote more than 20 songs of resistance while hiding out on the mountains with thw partisans. The greater part of Alekos Xenos work remains unknown. His most representative work is the Symphony of Resistance.

GIORGOS FROM SOTIRIANIKA – 30 YEARS LATER
2009, documentary, HDV, Col, 00.26 min. Production: Cinetic for the ERT - digital channel.
Giorgos Kozompolis in his 70’s, the Greek immigrant worker in Germany and successful restaurant owner of the 1978 documentary, shares today his time between Athens, his native land in Mani and… the stage of the National Theatre, acting in numerous stage productions, fulfilling the dream of his youth.  

FEMININE MATTERS IN THE GREEK FILM
2009, documentary, HDV, Col & B/W, 00.52 min. Production: Periplous for the ERT- Digital Channel.
Outstanding feminine stories, from the golden age of the greek film (1950-1965), era of the big stars, mass audiences, cinematic gentres, cliches, formulas and stereotypes.

THE BITTER STORY OF ANDREI GORENKO
2010, documentary, DVC, Col, 00.52 min. Cinetic for the ET-1 programmme Paraskinio (Backstage).
The Russian scholar Andrei Gorenko, brother of the great poet Anna Achmatova (1889-1966), refugee in Greece after the bolchevik revolution, attempts to commit suicide, both with his wife Maria, in a cheap room hotel in Athens, on February 1920. Few hours later Andrei dies while Maria survives. As soon as she recovers, she is told in the hospital that she is pregnant! Some months later she gives birth to a healthy boy, Andrei junior. We follow their stories fron the October revolution in St Petersburg, Russia to our days…     

TAKE THE GIFTS
2011, documentary, ΗDV, Col, 00.52 min. Production: Periplous for the ERT.
Double portrait os the two major contemporary greek poets, Mrs Kiki Dimoula (age 80) and Mr Titos Patrikios (age 83). They talk extensively and charismaticaly about poetry and about the atelier of their work.

THE COLLECTORS
2012, documentary, DVC, Col, 00.52 min. Cinetic for the ET-1 programmme Paraskinio (Backstage).
Fascinating stories of three well known collectors: Mr Zevelakis (mid-war litterature magazines), Mr Bayeris (early and late surrealist poets) and Mr Rallis (records of post-war greeek music).