Historic screening of the film "Eva" (1953) by Greece’s first female director Maria Plyta at Cannes Classics

A historically significant screening will take place in the official Cannes Classics programme at the Cannes Film Festival. The 1953 film Eva by Maria Plyta, the first female director in the history of Greek cinema, will be presented in the Cannes Classics section, which features masterpieces of world cinema in newly restored prints. This is the first time a restored Greek film has been included in this section at Cannes.

The film had previously been screened, before its restoration, as part of a tribute to Maria Plyta at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in November 2022.

Eva tells the story of a married woman who, during her summer holidays, meets a young man and begins a brief romantic relationship with him, provoking her husband’s anger and the disapproval of the island’s close-knit community. The screenplay was written by Andreas Lambrinos and the music by Mikis Theodorakis (marking his debut film score). The cast includes Nina Sgouridou, Alekos Alexandrakis, Manos Katrakis, Aliki Georgouli and Dinos Iliopoulos.

Maria Plyta, the first Greek female director, was born in Thessaloniki in 1915 and passed away in 2006. Initially involved in literature, she took her first steps in film production during the late 1940s, working on films by Alekos Sakellarios and Giorgos Tzavellas. In 1950, she made her directorial debut with The Engagement (T' arravoniasmata), one of the most notable Greek folk dramas of the era, featuring set designs by Yannis Tsarouchis. With 17 films to her credit, Maria Plyta is recognized as a pioneering filmmaker who helped shape Greek cinema.

The restoration of the film Eva was carried out by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in association with Alatas Films and Professor Betty-Despoina Kaklamanidou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), with the support of the Greek Film Archive. The project was made possible through funding from the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. The restoration journey was an initiative by Prof. Kaklamanidou as part of a systematic research effort into Maria Plyta’s work since 2021. It runs alongside the current research program "Plyta’s Unknown Cinema" (PUC, 2025-2028), funded by the H.F.R.I. (Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation) which is directed by the Professor herself. Notably, filming and interviews with key figures and international film institution executives will take place during the Cannes Film Festival for the needs of a documentary.

"The selection of Eva by Cannes Classics represents the ultimate vindication for Maria Plyta, a great creator who remained in the shadows of historiography for decades. With this work, we are redressing a long-standing gendered historiographical bias and organically integrating Maria Plyta into the Canon of European cinema," notes Prof. Kaklamanidou.

For further information and/or interview requests regarding the restoration of the film Eva (1953), please contact:

Marina Zigneli, PhD Candidate, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh)

Email: marinazignelis@gmail.com

Tel.: +30 6970047337