Greek Cinema - Hellenic University Club of Southern California

val for short movies, a total of three altogether.
The next year 1971, Contemporary
Cinema financed the production of ten short
movies. In that group were some new film
makers that disagreed with the commercial
film industry and with the political situation
of the junta which was in power from 1967
through 1974. According to Alida Demetriou
(p. 15) during that seven-year period, though
the quantity increased, the quality decreased.
The year 1971 seems to belong to the
producer-scriptwriter- director Nestor P.
Matsas again. Out of the thirty-four short
movies and documentaries that were produced
that year, seven were produced, written,
and directed by Nestor P. Matsas. Out of
the nine short movies and short documentaries
that were selected by the Thessaloniki
film festival committee for competition; two
were made by Nestor P. Matsas. His movies
were Mesa Apo Tin Eoniotita: Kriti (From
the Eternity: Crete). It is a cinema journey of
the History, Civilization, Art and the contemporary
life in Crete. The second one was
Anthropini Gefira (The Human Bridge). It
depicts the miracle of humanity by people
working together in one small mountainous
village. The third one is Megali Ekogenia (A
Great Family); Its plot presents a children’s
life in a camp and the spiritual attitude of
working, creating, and thinking together, in
an atmosphere of love surrounding young
children. The fourth one was To Magiko
Dendro (The Magic Tree); It depicts the cultivation
of gum trees and in the process traveling
throughout the island Chios of yesterday
and today. The fifth one was I Megali
Ora (A Great Time); through skilful editing,
Matsas depicts the preparations for the revolution
against the Ottomans, emphasizing the
most important moments and persons involved
in the fight for freedom. His sixth
short movie was Omorfia Tou Thanatou
(The Beauty of Death). His last one was To
Prosopo (The Face) which received an
“Honorary” award due to lack of competi-
24
tion. The folklore short documentary To
Prosopo (The Face) is based in the traditional
mask (made of wax) that the dancers wear
during a carnival (in Boules) celebration in
the city of Nausea. The celebration is a participation
of all people in the city with many
Dionysian elements. Director Nestor P.
Matsas presents the continuity of customs,
going back to their primitive roots. It is the
thirtieth documentary by the director Nestor
P. Matsas belonging to the series Rizes Tou
Topou mas (The Roots of Our Land).
The same year 1971 a newcomer, the director
Kostas Aristopoulos, made the short
documentary Draki (The Dragons) targeting
the political conditions of that period by
making direct and indirect references to the
dictatorship. However, his biases were very
evident.
The winner for the first Prize award in
1971 Thessalonikis film festival was the
short movie Ssst! directed by Theodoros
Maragos. It was his second short movie using
the animation system. This time the director
presented the contrast between the advertising
world in newspapers and promises by the
politicians. To present the theme, he used a
poor family living the reality of life. The director
Vasilis Maros won the “First Prize” for
his short documentary O Kosmos Ton Ikonon
(The World of Images). In this short
movie he was successful presenting the richness
and beautiful work of Byzantine Art in
Mount Sinai, Jerusalem, Mount Athos, and in
other Balkan countries as well as Russia. The
director Iordanis Ananiadis received the first
prize for short movie by a “New Director”
for his movie Pandesia (Banquet-Feast)
which humorously described the march of
Dionysus to Mount Olympus.
A total of thirty-five movies were produced
in 1972. Out of those, only sixteen
plus one without competition participated in
the Thessalonica film festival. The winners
for the first prize of short documentaries