What began as a discussion among the directors of the Greek Film Archive, the Portuguese Cinemateca Portuguesa, and the Spanish Filmoteca Española has evolved into a remarkable cinematic tribute titled “The Fall of the Dictatorship and the Breakthrough of New Cinema.” The tribute launches today, March 13, at the Greek Film Archive and will run until March 19.

With Greece and Portugal’s dictatorship ending in 1974—an event defined by the Carnation Revolution—and Spain transitioning to democracy following Francisco Franco’s death in 1975, the three nations come together to celebrate the triumph of democracy and the flourishing of new cinema. The tribute will showcase 24 landmark fiction films and documentaries, produced both before and after the fall of the regime, capturing the transformative era in cinema and society.

A Tribute to Revolutionary Cinema

Hosted at the Greek Film Archive, the program showcases works by renowned filmmakers such as Theo Angelopoulos, Carlos Saura, Pedro Costa, Manoel de Oliveira, João César Monteiro, and Pedro Almodóvar. The event will also feature discussions, including a roundtable, with distinguished guests introducing several of the films. Most screenings will include English subtitles to ensure accessibility.

The tribute opens with The Travelling Players (O Thiasos) by celebrated Greek director Theo Angelopoulos. The screening, set for 7 PM, will be introduced by the President of the Board of the Greek Film Archive. As Komninos notes, “Angelopoulos, in The Travelling Players, redefines the reading of contemporary history, using editing and shot sequences to create ‘dialectical images.’ The film is also a milestone for the recognition of the New Greek Cinema (NEK), as its screening at the Cannes Film Festival placed Angelopoulos among the greatest international auteurs.”

A selection of the tribute’s films will also be screened in 2025 or early 2026 at the Spanish Film Archive (Filmoteca Española) and the Portuguese Cinematheque (Cinemateca Portuguesa).

Greece

“In Greece, the emergence of new cinema took place during the dictatorship, as veteran and young directors united with journalists, academics, and writers to resist the oppressive regime,” says Komninos. She highlights Roviros Manthoulis’ Face to Face (1966) as a key film that exposed class conflicts within Greek society. However, she notes that the New Greek Cinema solidified its presence between 1974 and 1981, following the fall of the dictatorship. Among its most representative directors are Pantelis Voulgaris, Frida Liappa, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, and younger filmmakers Elisavet Chronopoulou and Stavros Stagkos.

Still frame from the film ‘Megara”.

Greek Films in the Tribute:

Face to Face (1966), Roviros Manthoulis

Evdokia (1971), Alexis Damianos

After Forty Days (1972), Frida Liappa (short film)

Megara (1974), Sakis Maniatis & Giorgos Tsemberopoulos (documentary)

The Idlers of the Fertile Valley (1974), Nikos Panagiotopoulos

The Travelling Players (1975), Theo Angelopoulos

Happy Day (1976), Pantelis Voulgaris

I Remember You Leaving All the Time (1977), Frida Liappa (medium-length film)

A Song Is Not Enough (2003), Elisavet Chronopoulou

Together We Stand (2023), Stavros Stagkos (documentary)

Portugal

Former Director of the Cinemateca Portuguesa explains that “the journey begins with an antecedent, Paulo Rocha’s The Green Years (1963), a border film made under dictatorship that radically separated the ‘old’ from the ‘new’ cinema, paving the way for the creative explosion that followed the regime’s collapse.” The selection also includes post-revolutionary films by Rui Simões, António Reis, Margarida Cordeiro, João César Monteiro, Pedro Costa, Manoel de Oliveira, and Margarida Cardoso.

Paulo Rocha’s The Green Years (1963).

Recordações da Casa Amarela, 1989), João César Monteiro

Portuguese Films in the Tribute:

The Green Years (Os Verdes Anos, 1963), Paulo Rocha

Trás-os-Montes (1976), António Reis & Margarida Cordeiro (docufiction)

The Good People of Portugal (Bom Povo Português, 1980), Teresa Sá & Rui Simões (documentary)

Blood (O Sangue, 1989), Pedro Costa

Recollections of the Yellow House (Recordações da Casa Amarela, 1989), João César Monteiro

Non, or the Vain Glory of Command (Non’, ou A Vã Glória de Mandar, 1990), Manoel de Oliveira

The Murmuring Coast (A Costa dos Murmúrios, 2004), Margarida Cardoso

Spain

The Spanish selection focuses on the political transition before and after the fall of Franco’s dictatorship. “These films exhibit diverse aesthetic approaches from 1973 to 1984, offering both historical accounts and social reflections, while also capturing the liberated imagery of Spanish cinema, which had already begun its transformation in the 1960s with the ‘New Spanish Cinema,’” explains Carlos Reviriego, Deputy Director of the Filmoteca Española.

Raise Ravens (Cría cuervos, 1976) by Carlos Saura.

Among the key figures of this movement were Basilio Martín Patino and Carlos Saura, both of whom took a critical stance against the regime. Another pivotal director was Pilar Miró, one of the few female filmmakers of the time, whose work reflected the shifting role of women in Spain from the mid-1970s onward. Additionally, Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers (Madres Paralelas) explores the intergenerational trauma linked to Spain’s history through the discovery of mass graves from Franco’s era.

Spanish Films in the Tribute:

Songs for After a War (Canciones para después de una guerra, 1973), Basilio Martín Patino (documentary)

Raise Ravens (Cría cuervos, 1976), Carlos Saura

The Disenchantment (El desencanto, 1976), Jaime Chávarri (documentary)

Paper Tigers (Tigres de papel, 1977), Fernando Colomo

The Cuenca Crime (El crimen de Cuenca, 1980), Pilar Miró

The Holy Innocents (Los santos inocentes, 1984), Mario Camus

Parallel Mothers (Madres paralelas, 2021), Pedro Almodóvar

Tickets for each screening cost 6 euros.

The tribute is organized in collaboration with the Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece, the Embassies of Spain and Portugal in Athens, the Camões Institute, and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, with the support of EKOME and the Cervantes Institute.

For the detailed program, visit the official event page.