Christos Vakalopoulos
Writing
Biography
Christos Vakalopoulos (Athens, 17 January 1956 - 29 January 1993) was a Greek writer, director and radio producer. He was born in Athens and was the son of Georgios Vakalopoulos, general director of IKA. He grew up in the Kypseli district, which he mentions extensively in his works, and completed his general studies at Leonteio Patision. In 1973 he was admitted to the Higher School of Economics and Commercial Sciences (ASOEE), while at the same time he wrote articles for the magazine Synkhronos Kinematografos and - after the fall of the junta - for the newspaper I Avgi. In 1980 he published his first book, A Best-Selling Case, and left for Paris for the next two years, where he studied film with his teacher Eric Rohmer. In 1982 he returned to Greece and collaborated for consecutive years with the political magazine Anti and the radio station of the Second Program of ERT. In 1984 he wrote and directed the short film Verantes, while publishing his second book, The Graduates. Then, in 1986, he directed the short film Theatre, while collaborating on the scripts of the films About Vasilis by Stavros Tsiolis and The Woman Who Saw Dreams by Nikos Panagiotopoulos. In 1989, he published the short story collection New Athenian Stories and directed his first feature film, Olga Robards, which won the Cinematography Award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival. In 1990, he collected many of his unpublished essays on cinema in a volume, entitled Second Screening, and a year later he published perhaps his best-known book, The Horizon Line. In 1992, he wrote and directed, together with Stavros Tsiolis, the film Please, Women, Don't Cry, which won the Screenplay and Direction Awards at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, as well as the Best Film Award from the Film Critics Association. On January 29, 1993, at the age of 37, he died of lung cancer and was buried at the Zografou Cemetery. In the same year, his friend Kostis Papagiorgis wrote the book Hello, Asimakis in his memory, while in 2005, under the editorship of Kostis Livieratos, the collection of articles and essays by Christos Vakalopoulos entitled The Dreamy Texture of Reality was published by Estia Publications. As part of the 46th Thessaloniki Film Festival, a special screening of the film Olga Robards was held in his honor.
Known For
Stella is a beautiful young girl who dreams of becoming one day a famous singer. Her boyfriend Andreas leads a quiet life working at his small store, and doesn't approve Stella's quest for fame. When she decides to leave Athens for a singing job offered to her somewhere in north Greece, Andreas sets off on a quest to find her again and convince her to come back to him
Edge of Night
Something changes in the relationship of Achilleas and Anna when she starts to dream vividly and insists on relating her dreams to her husband. He is a barrister in the middle of an important murder trial and his temper becomes frayed with Anna's seeming indifference and involvement and preoccupation with her dream world.
The Woman Who Dreamed
No description available.
Verandas
On 29 January 1993 eighty prisoners escaped from an Athens prison. Well, in actual fact one convict escaped, a guy named Vassilis, for his beloved in Amalliada, but in his hurry he forgot the prison door open and little by little another seventy-nine got out... The film follows the eleven who made it down to the Peloponnese... with them an old musician who has a map he bought from a Greek in America for $2500 with the lost treasure of General Hursit Pasha.
The Lost Treasure of Hursit Pasha
Panagiotis and Giannis are two good friends but also rivals in love. The first is a merchant and the second a violinist; one is tall and slim and the other short and fat; one is bossy, the other one mild. Both make an inimitable comic couple, wandering in the Peloponnese, looking for a date tree that will prove the innocence or guilt of the wife of one of them and possibly lover of the other. They are guided by an old picture depicting Panagiotis' wife, Maria, in the arms of Giannis, under a date tree. However, the area of their search, there are no date trees.
Love Under the Date-Tree
A village in Arcadia invites a "famous" icon painter and his assistant to restore the worn-out murals in a historic church. One is an amateur astronomer, and the other is involved in various scams.
Please, Ladies, Don't Cry
A sociology professor going through a mid-life crisis resigns from his job, abandons his family and lives isolated in his country house. His only incentive for living is the faded face of an unknown girl in a photograph he had taken in the past and whom he now starts looking for.
About Vassilis
In this highly stylized and enigmatic story, Olga uses her cello case as a weapons cache. When she isn’t using her sharpshooting skills to knock off eminent Arab visitors to Athens, she vamps around lightly clad on the terrace of her penthouse, entertaining one man after another.
Olga Robards
No description available.
Play it again, Χρήστο
With the youthful remembrance of the mysterious beauty he used to secretly admire from afar still etched in his mind, a young man will unexpectedly spot a dead ringer of her and attempt to appease his long-suppressed feelings.
The Night with Silena
Reel 31 of Gérard Courant’s on-going Cinematon series.
Cinématon XXXI
Short Greek movie.
Skian skias periegrapsa
A Short Film by Christos Vakalopoulos