The long read · Greek cinema
From Zorba to the Golden Lion: Greek Cinema and Its Global Stars
Greece gave the world the theatre, and in the twentieth century it gave cinema Zorba’s dance, a Palme d’Or and the strange, brilliant films of Yorgos Lanthimos. Here is the story of Greek film, and the best places to watch under the Athens sky.
Updated October 2026
From Stella to Angelopoulos
Greek cinema’s golden age came in the 1950s and 1960s, when Athens studios made comedies, melodramas and musicals that still play on television every summer. Michael Cacoyannis’s Stella (1955) made a star of Melina Mercouri, and her performance in Jules Dassin’s Never on Sunday (1960), set in Piraeus, won best actress at Cannes; Manos Hadjidakis won the Oscar for its title song.
Cacoyannis’s Zorba the Greek (1964), with Anthony Quinn, won three Oscars and gave the world the sirtaki. Theo Angelopoulos then made long, poetic journeys through Greek history and landscape: Ulysses’ Gaze won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1995 and Eternity and a Day the Palme d’Or in 1998.
The new wave and Yorgos Lanthimos
In 2009 Yorgos Lanthimos’s Dogtooth won the Prix Un Certain Regard at Cannes and went on to an Oscar nomination, and critics spoke of a Greek new wave of strange, bold films made on small budgets. Lanthimos moved on to English-language cinema with The Favourite and Poor Things, winner of the Golden Lion in Venice in 2023.
Must-watch films
To understand Greek cinema, start with these, and see our Athens on film page for the city’s own scenes.
- Stella (1955): Michael Cacoyannis’s drama with Melina Mercouri as a free-spirited singer.
- Never on Sunday (1960): Jules Dassin’s Piraeus comedy, best actress at Cannes for Mercouri.
- Zorba the Greek (1964): Cacoyannis’s classic with Anthony Quinn, winner of three Oscars.
- Eternity and a Day (1998): Theo Angelopoulos’s winner of the Palme d’Or.
- Dogtooth (2009): Yorgos Lanthimos’s unsettling family drama, the start of the new wave.
The stars
Greece’s great names of the screen.
- Katina Paxinou (1900–1973): the first Greek to win an Oscar, for For Whom the Bell Tolls.
- Melina Mercouri (1920–1994): the star of Stella and Never on Sunday, best actress at Cannes.
- Irene Papas (1926–2022): the tragic heroine of Zorba the Greek and The Guns of Navarone.
- Aliki Vougiouklaki (1933–1996): the beloved star of the golden-age comedies.
- Manos Hadjidakis and Vangelis: composers who each won an Oscar, for Never on Sunday and Chariots of Fire.
Where to watch in Athens
Summer in Athens means open-air cinema. Cine Thisio, open since 1935, looks straight up at the floodlit Acropolis, and Cine Paris in Plaka shows films on a rooftop below it. The Greek Film Archive screens classics all year, and each November the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, first held in 1960, is the great gathering of Greek film.
Our advice: on a warm evening, take a seat at Cine Thisio with a drink in hand and watch the Parthenon glow above the screen.
Cine Thisio Cine Paris Greek Film Archive Films under the stars: Athens and its open-air cinemas
Greece on film
Greece has been one of cinema’s favourite locations since the 1950s, from Mamma Mia! and The Big Blue on the islands to Never on Sunday in Piraeus. Our Athens on film page follows the city’s own scenes, and the Greek Islands guide has the islands’ films, from Zorba’s Crete to Corelli’s Kefalonia.
Athens on film The Greek Islands on film
Greeks in Hollywood
Greek talent has long shaped Hollywood. Elia Kazan, born in Constantinople to a Greek family, directed On the Waterfront; John Cassavetes and Telly Savalas were sons of Greek immigrants; Vangelis won the Oscar for Chariots of Fire; and Yorgos Lanthimos now directs Hollywood’s biggest stars, with Emma Stone winning the Oscar for Poor Things.
Questions and answers
Which Greek films have won the top prizes?
Theo Angelopoulos’s Eternity and a Day won the Palme d’Or in 1998, and Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things won the Golden Lion in 2023. Zorba the Greek won three Oscars.
Where can I see a film under the stars in Athens?
At the open-air cinemas, from late spring to early autumn: Cine Thisio, with its view of the Acropolis, and Cine Paris in Plaka are the most famous.
Join the conversation
Which Greek film or star do you love most? Share your favourite scenes and the open-air cinemas we should add.
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Sources: the Festival de Cannes, the Venice Biennale, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Greek Film Archive, checked on 6 November 2026. The trailers are from Kino Lorber’s and Searchlight Pictures’ official channels.