Costas Vrettakos
Directing
Biography
Kostas Vrettakos (Greek: Κώστας Βρεττάκος, 1938–2018), son of Nikiforos Vrettakos, was born in Athens and studied cinema in Greece and Italy. In addition to cinema, he earned a living as a publishing editor, producer of commercials and, occasionally, a journalist. During the Dictatorship, he worked as a translator of popular novels and as a photographer for encyclopedias. Early literary collaborations with the Art Review were followed by two poetry collections in 1971 and 1977 under the title Anaritma. In parallel with his photographic activity, he began to write scripts and direct his own films, of which the documentary The Layer of Destruction (1980) and the only feature film of his career, The Children of the Swallow (1987) stood out. At the same time, he founded the publishing house Tria Fylla. In 1989, he began to deal with the political management of Greek cinema, initially as Special Advisor for Cinematography of the Ministry of Culture (1989), then as president of the Greek Film Center (1991–1998) and finally as representative of Greece at Eurimages, the Council of Europe (1991–2006). In 2009 he published the novel Passerby from Reykjavik (Potamos Publications) and in 2016 the prose collection Exercises of Curiosity (Potamos Publications), which was awarded the Petros Haris Foundation Prize of the Academy of Athens. In 2018 he published a poetry collection of his youthful poems entitled Added Value (Polis Publications). He died in Athens on 6 November 2018, at the age of 80.
Known For
A journalist (Alekos Alexandrakis), working together with a young director (Peris Michailidis), tries to gather information about a family that was separated due to political turmoil. They locate some of its members, who tell their dramatic stories that began with the Civil War. The two men’s search is interrupted when a key person refuses to speak
The Children of the Swallow
The adventures of a car tire in the Attica region, in Greece. The tire was unexpectedly released from the car and started wandering independently in various places
The Wheel
A car electrician, Charis, spends all his money on tailors in order to give the appearance of a "lord". He constantly fights with his brother, Vasilis, who is also a day laborer (painter), saddled with all the joint expenses of the house. Charis believes that his looks will someday attract a rich wife and thus change his life and solve all his problems. Martha, however, the wealthy daughter of the shipowner Karapezis, falls in love with and marries his brother Vasilis (after he saved her life) without regard for her father's opinion or Vasilis' lack of money.
My Brother, the Lord
In 1972, to provide Athens with water, a bold project began, involving the creation of an artificial lake from the water of Mornos River, leading, however, to the destruction of the Velouchovo village, and the ancient town of Kallipolis.
Layer of Destruction
A mysterious disappearance takes place during the shooting of a commercial on the beach in the early morning hours. An unknown man suddenly comes into the shot, then walks into the sea holding an umbrella and seizes to exist, before the bewildered eyes of the whole crew. After the police are notified, a confusing array of red tape manoeuvers begins, revealing the close affiliations of the Authorities with the advertising company manager and the whole mechanism of Mass Media, all of which are trying not to investigate the event but to conceal or even exploit it in their own interest. Only the musician involved in that commercial is trying to figure out what really happened.
The Colors of Iris
A writer, locked in his house, writes about a young man who wanders in Athens and tries its fruits.
The fruit carriers of Athens
A Greek strongman seduces a young tourist and spend the day with her. "Jimmis the Tiger" is a family sportsman, who makes a living by showing off his skills in impromptu "shows" on the streets of Athens. One day a young German woman approaches him and asks his permission to take a series of photographs for a report. A tenderness will develop between them and they will spend a night together in a hotel room. The next morning, Tzimis will find himself accused of seducing the young foreigner to rob her...
Jimmy the Tiger
In the face of an irreversible disaster, Costas Vrettakos chronicles the fears, the responsibility, and the hopes of both the scientific team and the technicians during the restoration of Acropolis, from 1973 to 1986.
The Rescue of a Monument
A man alone is walking down the road. The first film (short) by Tonia Marketaki is based on a short story by Menelaos Loudemis. A poem of his “tonight” is heard in the filmm.