Cinema of Greece

Lore & Background

Greek cinema took root in the early 1900s, with the first mature films produced in the 1920s after the Greco-Turkish War. Early works like Astero (1929) and Maria Pentagiotissa (1929) were emotional melodramas with folkloristic elements. Orestis Laskos's Daphnis and Chloe (1931) contained the first voyeuristic nude scene in a European film and was one of the first Greek films shown abroad. During the Axis occupation, the industry struggled and was forced to relocate overseas.

Following the Greek Civil War, Greek cinema experienced a revival inspired by Italian neorealism, with directors such as Grigoris Grigoriou and Stelios Tatasopoulos shooting on location using non-professional actors. The 1950s and 1960s are considered a golden age, beginning with Michael Cacoyannis's Stella (1955), screened at Cannes. Never on Sunday (1960) was nominated for five Academy Awards, and its lead actress Melina Mercouri won the Best Actress Award at Cannes. Cacoyannis's Zorba the Greek (1964) won three Academy Awards.

Censorship under the 1967 junta and rising foreign competition led to a decline. After the restoration of democracy in the mid-1970s, the industry flourished again, led by director Theo Angelopoulos, whose films gained international recognition. In the 1990s, younger filmmakers began experimenting with iconographic motifs. Despite funding issues from the late 2000s financial crisis, unique films such as Yorgos Lanthimos's Dogtooth (2009), Panos H. Koutras' Strella (2009), and Athina Rachel Tsangari's Attenberg (2010) received international acclaim, forming the "Greek Weird Wave."

Reader's Guide

The cinema of Greece is significant for its ability to overcome war and political instability to produce internationally recognized works. It has won two Palme d'Or awards at Cannes—for Missing (1982) and Eternity and a Day (1998)—and received five Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film. The golden age of the 1950s and 1960s produced classics like Stella, Never on Sunday, and Zorba the Greek, which brought global attention to Greek cinema. Directors such as Michael Cacoyannis and Theo Angelopoulos became internationally acclaimed. The industry's later revival, despite censorship and financial crisis, led to the emergence of the "Greek Weird Wave," with films like Dogtooth gaining critical praise. Greek cinema's legacy includes a blend of dynamic plots, strong character development, and erotic themes, and it continues to dominate its domestic market while achieving international success.

Did You Know?

• Two Greek films, Missing (1982) and Eternity and a Day (1998), have won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
• Five Greek films have received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
• Orestis Laskos's Daphnis and Chloe (1931) contained the first voyeuristic nude scene in a European film.
• The 1960 film Never on Sunday was nominated for five Academy Awards, and its lead actress Melina Mercouri won the Best Actress Award at Cannes.