Greek Cinema - Hellenic University Club of Southern California

photography and cameraman was Takis Venetsanakos.
The story is narrated by the actor
Christos Katsiyannis while the original titles
are made by the art designer Apostolos Th.
Panayopoulos.
The same year 1964 the director and
cameraman Vasilis Maros participated at the
Thessalonica film festival with his short documentary
Kalymnos to Nisi Ton Sfougaradon
(Kalymnos the Island of Sponges Men).
He presents in a skilful way the hard and
dangerous life of those men in this island
making a living by taking a risk every time
they dive for sponges. Every one of those
men is full of dreams, faith, and countless
courage every time they live their island for
their daring work. Their work has a fortunate
and rewarding, and for some an unfortunate
side.
The year 1965 the quantity remains almost
the same. According to the Daily News
paper “Ethnos” a total of thirty two short
documentaries and short movies were produced.
However, according to Antonis Moshovakis,
only eight short movies and one
feature documentary were selected for competition.
9 The feature documentary of this
year was Greece Horis Eripia (Greece without
Ruins). It is a colorful cinemascope for
tourist advertisement about Greece, directed
by Angelos Lambrou and Mikis Grammatikopoulos.
They point out some presentday
customs, some historical flashbacks for
contrast, with good background music written
by the well-known composers Mikis
Theodorakis and Stavros Xarhakos.
The winner for the best short movie of
1965 was Anthropi Ke Thei (People and
Gods), directed by Roviros Manthoulis and
Eraklis Papadakis. It is a documentary of
classic theaters and temples.
In the same Film Festival of Thessalonica
in 1965 three more short movies: To Alogo
(The Horse), Gramma Apo to Serleroua
(Letter from Charleroi) and Sinandisis (The
18
Meeting), all three received an award. To
Alogo was directed by a new, talented, and
self-taught director, Kostas Zoes. He based
his story on the novel by Zaharias Papandoniou
and caught the mood very realistically.
There is a sentimental relationship between
a farmer and his horse, upon which his
livelihood depends. The horse was the man’s
only companion in life. The high point was
when the Second World War started and the
horse was taken away from him to be used in
the war effort. Director Kostas Zoes treated
this event very skillfully. Kostas Zoes’s short
movie, besides receiving two more local
awards, received an “Honorable” mention at
the Film Festival of Oberhausen and Krakow
in 1966. The second short movie was
Gramma Apo To Serleroua (Letter from
Charleroi) directed by Lambros Liaropoulos.
It is well-made, realistic picture of the life
and activities of the Greek community in the
coal mines of Belgium and Germany. The
strongest massage on his movie is the sociological
problem about immigration. The picture
composition of the gray, depressed skies,
and the dark piles of black coal, are very effective;
it is a very well-written script, and
the director's message are clear, effectively
presented, and understood by all.
The third short movie Sinandisis (The
Meeting) is produced and directed by Mika
Zaharopoulou. Its plot is a sentimental study
about a bored rich girl and her reaction after a
short friendship with a young villager. Mika
Zaharopoulou received a second Prize award
for “Best Short Movie” in the Thessalonica
film Festival of 1965.
One short movie that it is funny and
pleasant is O Kleftis (The Thief), eighteen
minutes long. It was produced by Nikos
Varveris, written and directed by Padelis
Voulgaris. A comic story of a young skillful
pickpocket and a sharp policeman who is
watching him in action in a crowded bus
picking a pocketbook from an old lady. Instead
of arresting him on the spot, he follows