1960 First Week of Greek Cinema

Back when cinema was a real Greek cinema and made the world in the dark halls overflowing with optimism and creatively erasing from the memories the darkness of war.

It began in 1960 as the Week of Greek Cinema

on 20-26 September at

the Olympion Cinema

. In 1961 it was renamed the Greek Film Festival

and in 1992, it became an international film festival directed by Misel Dimopoulos.

A group of intellectuals of Thessaloniki led by
the academic Pavlos Zannas
had the plan to organize film screenings in cinema and choose the best. The triumph was unprecedented from the interest of the people and thus the institution was established.

On the committee was Stratis Myrivilis, Katina Paxinou, Petros

Harry, Helen

Vlachos
,
Lena Savvidis, Achilles Mamakis, Marios

Ploritis and Giannis Moralis

Dinos Dimopoulos' "Maddalena" gave Aliki Vougiouklaki the first prize for a female role.

Dimitris Horn won the first best actor award for the film "A Thief's Thief" by Dimitris Ioanniopoulos.

The First Greek Film Festival ended with an official reception given in the hall of the military club of Thessaloniki by the management of the international exhibition.

At the same reception, the awards were announced.

Nikos Koundouros

(for the Dragon), Alekos Sakellarios

for (The wood came out of paradise) and Takis Kanellopoulos

for the (Macedonian wedding) were the directors who received awards.

Pantelis Zervos

(best actor for the film Maddalena), Georges Sarri

(second female role for Crime behind the scenes), Manos Hadjidakis

(music for the film The River), Aristides Karidis-Fuchs

(lighting for the Crime behind the scenes) and Georgios Roussos

(for the script of Maddalena).

The fact was that Greece of innocence was looking for his
stars
, the glam, and in this way he began to be enchanted and dreamed.