Roviros Manthoulis
(1929-2022) DirectorRobert (Roviros) Manthoulis is a Greek filmmaker born in Komotini. He studied political sciences at Panteion University. From 1949 to 1953, he studied Film at Syracuse University in the United States. In 1953 he returned to Greece and started working at the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, where he introduced new theatre techniques to radio broadcasting. At the same time, he taught filmmaking at two of Athens’ most prominent film schools. In 1958 he created his first film, a documentary about Lefkada, considered the first Greek documentary.
He soon became obsessed with documentaries and worked hard for the recognition and dissemination of the genre in Greece. He was among the founders of the “Group of 5”, which organised workshops, and film screenings to promote documentaries to a broader audience.
His work, which often foretold and denounced the dictatorial tendencies of the Greek regime, led to his exile when the seven-year Regime of the Colonels began.
His 1966 film, “Face to Face”, brought him the recognition needed to seek refuge in Paris. He worked in television, filming documentaries while searching the political and social roots of music and spectacles. “A l’ Affiche du Monde”, his show, was named the best French TV show of 1969. He directed more than 120 films.
When the seven-year junta in Greece ended, he returned to Greece and worked as the artistic director of the Hellenic Broadcast Corporation for a year. Afterwards, he continued travelling and filming for French television. During the 1980s, he was asked to return to Greek television to help with an entangled situation. He only quit to shoot a film adaptation of “Drifting Cities” by Stratis Tsirkas, a greek-french production that lasted for three years.
In 1991 he was elected president of the Greek Community of Paris. There, he founded a film club, started publishing a magazine and organised workshops introducing university professors to the public. He then shot several films concerning Greek people living in Paris.
He later started shooting films interested in Greek matters, like the Greek Civil War and the Colonels’ Regime, for the French television channel ARTE.
He passed away in 2022.
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ATHANASIOU GIORGOS
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