Yannis Smaragdis

Iannis Smaragdis was born in Crete in 1946. He studied Film in Greece and France. He made his first appearance in 1972 with the short film Two Three Things..., which received the first prize at the Athens Film Festival, as well as a Special Mention at the Montreal Film Festival. Iannis Smaragdis' career has been full of creativity and counts many successes. His most significant features are Cavafy (1996) and El Greco (2007). They were both very successful and award-winning films that participated in many international festivals, the most significant being the Toronto International Film Festival. On television, he touched the hearts of audiences with his Good night to you, Kyr Alexandre in 1980. In 1988 he directed the 13-episode series Hush... Our Country is Sleeping..., which is considered the best TV series since the beginning of television broadcasting in Greece. Iannis Smaragdis has directed many more TV series, such as Hadjimanuel (1984) and Les Enfants Gates (2001). He has also directed documentaries and essays: Spyros Louis (2004), I've brought to art (1998), Thus spake the city (1990-1993), to name a few. In 2007 he directed Opera of Shadows at the Athens Concert Hall. In 2012, he completed his new film God Loves Caviar, which officially participated at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in Greek theatres in October 2012 and was a box office hit for three consecutive weeks. Until 31 December 2012 it reached 350.000 admissions. He is currentl…