Maria Gavala
Directing
Biography
Maria Gavala was born in Koropi, Attica, in 1947. She studied history and archeology at the University of Athens, graduating in 1972. She directed films, including: “About Love – Chrysanthi” (1982), “The Scent of Violets” (1985) and “The Magic Glass” (1988). She wrote film reviews, which were published in publications such as the magazine Contemporary Cinema.[3] She also translated theoretical and film texts, as well as literary works. She has worked as a teacher, she directed cinema and television films, wrote film reviews, and translated texts on film theory and aesthetics, as well as literature. She was a member of the editorial board of the journal Synchronos Kinimatografos [Contemporary Cinema]. She has published extensively in film magazines, and in publications of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Greek Film Archive, among others. She has written ten prose works.
Known For
A romantic girl, influenced by a popular magazine, has a series of brief adventures with her ambitious cousin, her gay cousin, her neighborhood's electrician and a distant aunt, which will land her from myths and dreams to reality.
The Scent of Violets
The story of Ioannis Zachos, a young psychopath who commits a murder in Athens.
John the Violent
Composed of two independent, medium-length segments set against the backdrop of the early 1980s Greek society, "Peri Erotos" pivots around the unforeseen complications of eternal Eros. Starting with "Chrisanthi", the female narcissism--paired with fetishism and latent homosexuality--gives birth to emotional impasses, unchanneled sexual energy, and ultimately, erotic violence. Then, in "Iason", a young man torn between two women struggles to find his feet in an ever-changing game of twisted love. As unrestrained male passion takes over, the man attempts to reconcile the conflict between life and death and cope with rejection and self-destructive masochistic tendencies.
About Love
The arrival of a young and beautiful female neighbor disrupts the everyday life of a married couple, leading to a series of misunderstandings.