Vassilis Photopoulos (Greek : Βασίλης Φωτόπουλος) (1934, Kalamata – 14 January 2007, Athens, Greece) was an influential Greek painter, film director, art director and set designer.
He was an Academy Award winner for the film Zorba the Greek for art direction. [1] [2]
Vassilis Photopoulos was born in Kalamata and studied painting at a very young age under Vangelis Drakos. He appeared for the first time on the Art scene as the stage designer for play "Servant Lady", in the Athens Opera House.
He also worked for the National Greek Theatre, the Public Theatre of Northern Greece, and the Liberal Theatre.
In 1966, he worked with Francis Ford Coppola in the film You're a Big Boy Now, which starred Geraldine Page, Rip Torn, Karen Black, Julie Harris and Elizabeth Hartman.
He died in Athens in 2007, aged 72.
Katina Paxinou was a Greek film and stage actress.
Manos Hatzidakis was a Greek composer and theorist of Greek music, widely regarded as one of the greatest Greek composers of all time. He was one of the main proponents of the "Éntekhno" form of music, along with Mikis Theodorakis, and he is credited as the founder of the Orchestra of Colours, an ensemble performing lesser-known works and the music of Greek composers, and influenced a broad swathe of Greek culture through his writings and radio broadcasts. With his theoretical and compositional work, he is considered to be the first to connect post-war the worded music with traditional music.
Julie Taymor is an American director and writer of theater, opera, and film. Her stage adaptation of The Lion King debuted in 1997 and received eleven Tony Award nominations, with Taymor receiving Tony Awards for her direction and costume design. Her 2002 film Frida, about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, was nominated for five Academy Awards, including a Best Original Song nomination for Taymor's composition "Burn It Blue". She also directed the 2007 jukebox musical film Across the Universe, based on the music of the Beatles.
Kalamata is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece after Patras, and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regional unit, it lies along the Nedon River at the head of the Messenian Gulf.
Michael Cacoyannis, sometimes credited as Michael Yannis, was a Greek Cypriot theatre and film director, writer, producer, and actor.
The cinema of Greece has a long and rich history. Though hampered at times by war or political instability, the Greek film industry dominates the domestic market and has experienced international success. Characteristics of Greek cinema include a dynamic plot, strong character development and erotic themes. 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.
Timothy Yip Kam-tim is a Hong Kong art director and designer for fiction films. He is best known for his work on the 2000 martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction. Yip also won a BAFTA award for the film's costume design. He has been alternatively credited as Tim Yip Kam-tim, Kam Tim Yip, Kam-tim Yip, and Tim Yip.
Alexis Stamatis is a Greek novelist, playwright, and poet. Amongst other work, he has published eighteen novels, six books of poetry, and a number of plays. As of 2011, he teaches creative writing at the Hellenic American Academic Foundation.
Dimitris Papaioannou is an Athenian born in 1964 who emerged from the Greek underground art scene as a defining figure. Starting as a comics creator, he became a director, choreographer, performer, and designer of sets, costumes, and lighting.
Dr. Nikos Xanthoulis is a Greek composer, lyrist and author. He served as principal trumpet player of the Greek National Opera for 25 years (1983-2009), lead the Educational Department (2009-2012) and served as an Artistic Consultant (2016-2021) of the same institution. He is Assistant Researcher with the Academy of Athens (2009–present), Correspondent Member of the Archaeological Institute of America (2010–present), and Professor of Composition (2004–2020) and Trumpet (1984-2013) at the Athens Conservatory. He was also Artistic Director of the Public Broadcasting Music Ensembles and Tutor at the Greek Open University (2004-2017).
Theoni V. Aldredge was a Greek-American stage and screen costume designer.
Yannis Smaragdis is a Greek film director, highly popular and award-winning. On October 21, 2024, he was elected as a regular member of the prestigious European Academy of Sciences and Arts. As a result, he became the first Greek director to be voted as an academician.
Vasilis Vasili, born in 1964 is a Greek contemporary visual artist working primarily in sculpture.
Phedon Papamichael, ASC is a Greek cinematographer and film director, known for his collaborations with directors James Mangold, Alexander Payne and Wim Wenders. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and the BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography. He has been a member of the American Society of Cinematographers since 2000.
YorgosLanthimos is a Greek filmmaker. He has received multiple accolades, including a BAFTA Award, as well as nominations for five Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award.
Kora Karvouni is a Greek stage and television actress. She graduated from the Greek National Theatre Drama School with a distinction in 2002. She has performed in various theatre productions in Greece, U.S.A., South Korea and Italy collaborating with notable directors such as Peter Stein, Anatoly Vasiliev, Dimiter Gotscheff and Laurent Chétouane. She has also participated in Greek television productions.
Athina Rachel Tsangari is a Greek filmmaker. Some of her most notable works include her feature films, The Slow Business of Going (2000), Attenberg (2010) and Chevalier (2015) as well as the co-production of Yorgos Lanthimos' films Kinetta (2005), Dogtooth (2009), and Alps (2011). In her versatile work for cinema, she has also founded and been director of the Cinematexas International Short Film Festival. In 2014–2015, she was invited to Harvard University's Visual and Environmental Studies department as a visiting lecturer on art, film, and visual studies.
Hellenic Film Academy Awards or Hellenic Iris Awards are a set of awards given annually by the Hellenic Film Academy for excellence of cinematic achievements in Greek cinema, replacing the abolished Greek State Film Awards. On May 3, 2010, the first awards ceremony was presented at the Athens Concert Hall. Since 2016, the awards have been renamed Iris Awards.
Ioanna Papantoniou is a Greek author, scenic designer, costume designer and folklorist. She is the founder and president of the Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation in Nafplio, winner of the 1981 European Museum of the Year Award.
Georgis Grigorakis is a Greek film director and screenwriter. He has received awards at the 70th Berlin Film Festival and the Hellenic Film Academy Awards 2021 for his debut film Digger.