67th TFF: Honorary Golden Alexander and tribute to Nikos Grammatikos

The Thessaloniki International Film Festival is bestowing its Honorary Golden Alexander Award to one of the most beloved Greek directors and scriptwriters, the acclaimed filmmaker Nikos Grammatikos for his overall contribution to cinema.

TFF’s 67th edition (November 5 to 15) will host a major tribute to Nikos Grammatikos, within the framework of which his complete body of work, both feature-length and short films, will be screened. Audiences will also have the opportunity to take part in an open discussion with him, where he will talk them through his creative process.

Moreover, two of his films will be showcased under fully accessible terms; Truants, one of the most iconic films of contemporary Greek cinema, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, as well as Night Flowers. The screenings will be held with the support of accessibility sponsor Alpha Bank.

Additionally, the Festival’s special edition, First Shot Magazine, will be dedicated to Nikos Grammatikos and will feature a selection of rare photo material, an extensive interview, and original texts on both him and his works. Nikos Panayotopoulos, co-screenwriter to a lot of Grammatikos’ films, is a valuable collaborator of the First Shot special edition and will be in Thessaloniki to participate in the tribute.

“Thank you so very much, it’s a great honor. It was at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival that my first film was screened, as were all the ones that followed. It was also where I won my first award and where audiences always embraced me. I’m delighted to be returning to it once more,” Nikos Grammatikos stated.

“We are delighted to dedicate this tribute to Nikos Grammatikos. It is rare for a filmmaker to leave such a powerful mark, not only on his field –Greek cinema– but also on our collective memory. His films are courageous, imbued with existential truth and a genuine concern for the human condition, for the light and darkness within us, for what connects us to others and what sets us apart from them – and even from ourselves. Truants, The King and A Time to Kill, along with his other films, reflect our relationships, an entire generation and a whole country over the past three decades. Ιt is with deep emotion that we welcome and honour the work of Nikos Grammatikos” notes Orestis Andreadakis, Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival.

Nikos Grammatikos is one of the most renowned and influential voices in Greek cinema. His films, poetic yet realistic, draw us into worlds filled with meaningful moments, friendships, memories, disillusionments, loves, and dreams left unfulfilled. His characters, unconventional yet vulnerable, clash with their environment, as well as their own selves, as they struggle to navigate the impasse in their lives. The tribute traces the creative thread connecting Nikos Grammatikos’s works from its very beginnings. Seven feature-length films by the Greek filmmaker will be screened at the 67th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, while the audience will also have the opportunity to watch four of his rarest shorts.

As part of the tribute, the Festival will also host an open discussion with the director and his collaborators - actors, scriptwriters, as well as other contributors to his films. Furthermore, a presentation of the bookApontes (Antipodes Publications) by journalist and writer Theodosis Michos, will take place. The book chronicles the oral history of the film’s creation, featuring candid, deeply personal accounts from all those involved in the making of Grammatikos’s multi award-winning film, Truants.

Nikos Grammatikos was born on Salamis island, Greece, in 1963. He studied film and mathematics, and from 1984 to 1994 produced the radio show called To sinema sto G΄ Programma on State Radio, in collaboration with directors Antonis Kokkinos and Yannis Karypidis. He has directed seven feature and five short films, winning numerous awards and selections at festivals in Greece and abroad. Indicatively, his debut feature, U-Turn, won the Best Newcomer Director Award at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in 1991. A Time to Kill received the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress Awards at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in 1992, and Truants earned the Awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Script, Best Supporting Actor, the Greek Association of Film Critics (PEKK) Award, and the Audience Award at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in 1996. He has taught film acting at the Dilos Drama School, the Hellenic Cinema and Television School Stavrakos, and at the New York College, Athens.

The films included in the tribute

In his feature-length directorial debut, U-Turn (1991), Andreas is a car thief. He delivers the stolen cars to specific people with whom he has minimal contact. His only friend is a sex worker who helps him with his “operations.” One day, he unexpectedly meets Ismene, who enters his life under strange circumstances and drags him into a dangerous game. Starring: Minas Hatzisavvas, Alexandra Sakelaropoulou, Giorgos Ninios, Yiorgos Moroyiannis, Nikos Dimitratos, Stella Kazazi, Giorgos Giannopoulos

A Time to Kill (1993) follows Nikos and Kostas, two friends who share the same hobby: target shooting. At the range, Nikos encounters Andreas, a strange man who offers Nikos big money to carry out contract killings. Nikos initially refuses but eventually agrees so as to help his friend pay off a mounting gambling bet. As the big day draws to a close, Nikos realizes he cannot pull the trigger; the murder is ultimately committed by a woman, Daphne. The four characters become further entangled as they pursue easy money, resort to blackmail, and give in to desire. Starring: Giorgos Giannopoulos, Akis Sakellariou, Betty Livanou, Minas Hatzisavvas, Nikos Dimitratos, Stella Kazazi, Tasos Palatzidis, Periklis Lianos, Nikoleta Nefeli, Hristos Nomikos

Truants (1996) follows the scarce gatherings of six friends over a seven-year period that coincides with the critical years of their social integration. Nikos Grammatikos’s iconic film, one of the most beloved in Greek film history, documents their occasional meetings on the island of their origin, the backdrop of their shared past. Each time they return to the island, they inevitably carry the traces of their personal choices, as well as the realities of contemporary Greek life: a reality that slowly but steadily changes them and erodes them, loosening their bonds and gradually diminishing communication between them. The end of the era of collective matters will find them scattered, facing the dawn of a time dominated by individual solutions and pursuits. Starring in the film are: Nikos Georgakis, Giorgos Evgenikos, Vangelis Mourikis, Tasos Nousias, Constantinos Staridas, Emilios Chilakis, Antonis Antoniou, Minas Hatzisavvas, Arto Apartian, Vivi Koka, Dimitris Voyatzis, Giorgos Giannopoulos, Anatoli Athanasiadou

Night Flowers (1999) traces the unique and, to most, unfamiliar process through which visually impaired children are trained, in an effort to adapt to and become members of a society which, as they learn, is structured around the sense of vision. Manolis, a twelve-year-old boy, and his friends, all of them born blind, carry us away into their own world, where all the other senses become, through necessity, much sharper. During our journey, they show us the ways in which they conceive of and appreciate an outside world which they have never seen; how they overcome the obstacles put in their path; and how, in the end, with all their senses fully and constantly alert, they get to know this world.

The King (2002) is based on a true story: Vangelis is a 35-year-old man who has decided to make a clean break with his shady past and change his life. So, he attempts to make a new start on his father's estate in the Peloponnese. At first the inhabitants of the region welcome him with suspicion, which soon turns to overt hostility. His only supporter is the police captain in the neighboring town. Vangelis' determination to rebuild his life and his attempt to come to terms with the hostile environment smooth things over, and it appears that he is becoming accepted by the local community... Until the moment that Maria arrives. She is the woman in his life and a link to his past, which intrudes lethally into the present. The hero's clash with his environment is now inevitable. Vangelis is faced with a moral dilemma: dignity or death? Starring: Vangelis Mourikis, Marilita Lampropoulou, Minas Hatzisavvas, Giannis Zouganelis, Babis Giotopoulos, Tasos Nousias, Vivi Koka, Evangelia Adreadaki, Periklis Lianos, Kostas Kalokairinos, Anna Vagena, Dimitra Hatoupi, Karafil Shena.

In The Wake (2005), Andreas, a corrupt police officer, is on the run. His life has hit a dead end – he has just shot his wife and is now trying to flee the country. His only hope is Nikos, his estranged younger brother, a priest. The two haven’t spoken in over a decade. Over the course of one turbulent night, Andreas calls on all his underworld contacts to plan his escape. But this night becomes more than a getaway – it is a reckoning with their shared past and a wake for Andreas’s wife. Starring: Vangelis Mourikis, Michalis Tsourounakis, Angeliki Dimitrakopoulou, Iro Loupi, Ersi Malikenzou, Evagelia Samiotaki, Dimitra Hatoupi, Yannis Economides

Medea...Louder Than My Thoughts (2014) is a cinematic adventure based on Euripides’s theatrical play of the same name but reimagined in the streets of contemporary Athens as a gripping detective story. The investigation unfolds through dialogues with theorists, directors, and actors, as well as auditions and rehearsals – but most strikingly, through awe-inspiring interviews with everyday people. This journey aims to track down Jason, Medea’s legendary husband, and reflect on who he might be in today’s world, what went wrong, and why he failed to achieve his original objective. Starring: Vangelis Mourikis, Yukiko Krontira, Tasos Nousias, Sofia Vogiatzaki, Antonis Antoniou, Theodoros Kandiliotis, Hristos Roupakas, Iro Loupi, George Giannopoulos, Ersi Malikenzou

Within the framework of the tribute, four of Nikos Grammatikos’s shorts, rarely showcased on the big screen, will also be screened.

In From Far Away (1987), someone is looking for the killer – but who could it be, in this story of role reversal? Starring: Minas Hatzisavvas, Giorgos Ninios, Andreas Koutsourelis, Arleta Andreadi, Dimosthenis Kourtovik, Sofia Drosou, Christos Karantinos

In Danger Zone (1988), a man arrives at a secluded hotel, where he hears a strange melody coming from the attic. There, he meets an older man playing the tune on a cello. The music conceals a terrifying secret. In his search for the truth, the man commits an act of hubris and enters the realm of the Nightmare. Starring: Minas Hatzisavvas, Yiorgos Moroyiannis, Ersi Malikenzou

In the short, Abacus (1989), an aviator, injured in an accident, isolates himself in a ground-floor flat. There, he discovers an old chessboard and begins a strange game against himself. As the game unfolds, reality begins to unravel, leading him into a world of ghosts. The queen’s sacrifice is drawing near. Starring: Minas Hatzisavvas, Giorgos Ninios, Alexandra Sakelaropoulou

In Chaos (1994), two men meet by chance on a train, and a game of cat and mouse begins, with the roles constantly shifting. Does God play dice, or is everything governed by absolute order? The answer comes from an unexpected deus ex machina. Starring: Akis Sakellariou, Periklis Lianos