Yorgos Panousopoulos 1946-2026

The Festival honoured the memory of the distinguished and much-loved filmmaker Giorgos Panousopoulos, whose work includes some of the most memorable films in the history of Greek cinema, with a special screening of Stergios Paschos’ documentary Say, Where Does Desire Grow? on Wednesday, March 11, at the Stavros Tornes theatre.

The screening, held as part of the 28th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, was introduced by Lefteris Charitos, President of the Hellenic Film Academy, in a warm and deeply moving atmosphere.

Vassilis Terzopoulos, Coordinator of the Festival’s Greek Programme, introduced Lefteris Charitos, addressing the audience: “Thank you for being here for this special screening in memory of Yorgos Panousopoulos, held as part of the 28th TiDF. We are presenting Stergios Paschos’s film Say, Where Does Desire Grow?, which was screened at the 27th TiDF,” he noted, before inviting Lefteris Charitos to take the floor.

Lefteris Charitos welcomed the audience and thanked the Festival team for the initiative. “It feels strange to introduce a film about Yorgos Panousopoulos when he is no longer with us. The documentary you are about to watch is a beautiful and very accurate portrait of him, filmed at a time when Yorgos had already done so much and could speak with clarity about his life and work. The director created the right conditions for Yorgos to feel at ease and share the thoughts and stories you will see unfold in the film. After all, Yorgos always spoke with sincerity and from the heart. Whenever I speak about him, I find myself opening up more than I normally would, even though that is not how I tend to be in everyday life. We worked together a few times: in the early 2000s, on the film Athens Blues (2001), where I served as his assistant director, and again a few months before his passing, when he was honoured by the Hellenic Film Academy and we recorded a short interview,” he said.

Charitos then turned to the distinctive cinematic voice of the great Greek filmmaker: “He was a truly unique person, and a director who was never shaped by the trends of his time: for Yorgos, it was as if they did not exist. He was my favourite Greek filmmaker. His films, even the last one, spoke to everyone and yet always preserved something profoundly personal. They are films one can watch with ease and genuine curiosity, filled with a deep joy for life: the same joy that defined him. When we recorded the short interview for the Hellenic Film Academy award, he was still the same Yorgos I remembered from the 1970s and the 1990s, unaltered. He was tireless, always full of plans until the very end, though he sometimes feared he might not have enough time to bring them to life. Through his films, he remains strikingly alive. Because he started his career as a cinematographer, he was also an extraordinary camera operator. The way he looked at the world was unique: it felt as he and the camera became one. The documentary you are about to watch is deeply moving, with beautiful editing and wonderful excerpts from many of his films. Thank you all for being here. I hope you will share in the emotion of this very special day,” he concluded. The screening of the documentary followed.

With Giorgos Panousopoulos in mind, the Festival team will continue to share with you everything taking place at the 28th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.