Manos Zaharias is the best-known unknown in Greek cinema. The leading founder of the institutional and legal framework which govern filmmaking in Greece; in charge of the sector of film at the Culture Ministry in the days of the unforgettable Melina Mercouri, and for many years Chairman of the Greek Film Centre, he has come to be identified with the firm, generous, and dynamic development of modern Greek film culture.

 HOMAGE TO MANOS ZACHARIAS

Manos Zaharias: A Film Director Passionate about Greece

This institutional role of Manos Zaharias has, strangely enough, concealed his work as an artist in cinema. When, in the late seventies, Manos returned home after a long and dark period of forcible exile, he had already made nine films in the Soviet Union (including one, which was made during the Civil War). Though this oeuvre may not have been treated with the usual superficiality and prejudice, it was, nonetheless, stifled, and for this we are all liable. Is it merely Manos' modesty that is to blame? Is it the inherent weakness of Greek cinema which is unable to move beyond personal expediency and heed, respect, think about and support the work of disinterested people who despise self-promotion? Because, on the few occasions when certain films by Manos Zaharias were screened in Greece, the reception they enjoyed by the public and the critics was not merely warm; it was also revealing.
The Thessaloniki International Film Festival aims to redress this gross injustice by honouring Manos Zaharias with the Golden Alexander and aspires to organize, at a future date, a comprehensive tribute to his cinematic oeuvre.

 ONE OUT OF THE FIRING SQUAD / Enas apo to ektelestiko apospasma

Direction: Manos Zaharias.
Screenplay: Oleg Stukalov, from an idea by Y. Sevastikoglou.
Cinematography: German Lavrov.
Editing: Valentina Kulagina.
Sound: Boris Vengerovski.
Sets: Abram Freidin.
Costumes: Maya Abar-Baranovskaya.
Music: Mikis Theodorakis.
Cast: Masha Vadova, Yevgeni Kintinov, Sergei Sakurov, Georgi Burkov, V. Voinichescu-Sotski, Svetlana Orlova, Irina Paikina.
35mm B&W 84'. USSR, 1968

Following the military coup d'état, a young man will be led to the firing squad. One of the soldiers will refuse to take part in the execution and will be sent to jail. After the execution, the soldiers are given leave. We will follow one of them, as he gets together with his friends, his girlfriend, and his relatives, and we will observe the road he takes until he realises the true meaning of his act.