Director Nikos Koundouros passes away

Born in Athens in December 1926, to a family originally hailing from Crete, Koundouros was counted among the most notable modern Greek directors, while his 1956 film "The Ogre of Athens" is considered by many to be the best Greek film of that decade.
He represented Greek cinema at a number of foreign film festivals in the 50s and 60s, winning the the Silver Bear for his film "Young Aprodites" in the 13th Berlin film festival, as well as top prize in the Thessaloniki Film Festival, in 1963. His work has been repeatedly broadcast on British and French television and there are copies of his films in many important film museums around the world.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a tweet Koundouros was one of the founders of modern Greek cinema and a proud man. “We bid him farewell with respect,” he added. 

Culture Minister Lydia Koniordou hailed his work and expressed her condolences to his family. “Today we bid farewell to Nikos Koundouros, but the images of an entire era will be forever preserved in his movies. I would like to express my warmest condolences to his family, his wife and his children, as well as his relatives,” she said.