Mihalis Giannatos
1941 - 2013Ηe was born in (Istanbul), Turkey. He left the city for Greece in 1964 during the long expulsion of Istanbul Greeks.
He studied in Konstantinos Demopoulos' school of drama and first appeared as a professional actor in Georgios Zervoulakos' film Oi stigmatismenoi (Greek: Οι στιγματισμένοι) in 1966. When still a student, he participated in the theatrical play Capetan Michalis (Greek: Καπετάν Μιχάλης) next to Manos Katrakis.
During his long cinematic career, he appeared in close to 100 films, television series and plays. He was a regular in Theodoros Angelopoulos films since he was one of the director's favorite actors. After Megalexandros (Greek: Μεγαλέξανδρος) in 1981, Angelopoulos was always calling him to play in his movies.
He was fluent in five languages; Greek, Turkish, French, Italian and Spanish. Due to that, he appeared in many international productions, including Midnight Express, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Munich and more.
What Did You Do in the War, Thanassi?
Dinos Katsouridis
Thanasis Vengos, Efi Roditi
A wild tale of mistaken identity set during the Nazi occupation of Greece and starring the great Thanasis Vengos. Thanasis is called upon, during the Occupation, to testify at the trial of a tavern owner accused of serving cat meat to his customers. He too is accused of perjury and imprisoned with some resistance fighters. The resistance fighters escape, but Thanasis remains in his cell. He is accused of being Ivan, the notorious ringleader of certain revolutionaries.
What Did You Do in the War, Thanassi?
Midnight Express
Alan Parker
Brad Davis, Irene Miracle
Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. The Turkish courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express".
Midnight Express
A Touch of Spice
Tassos Boulmetis
Georges Corraface, Ieroklis Michaelidis
"A Touch of Spice" is a story about Fanis, a young Greek boy growing up in Istanbul, whose grandfather, a culinary philosopher and mentor, teaches him that both food and life require a little salt to give them flavor. They both require... A Touch of Spice. Fanis grows up to become an excellent cook and uses his cooking skills to spice up the lives of those around him. 35 years later he leaves Athens and travels back to his birthplace of Istanbul to reunite with his grandfather and his first love. He travels back only to realize that he forgot to put a little bit of spice in his own life.
A Touch of Spice
Alexander the Great
Theo Angelopoulos
Omero Antonutti, Eva Kotamanidou
Alexander, a tribal warlord and former political prisoner, kidnaps British tourists, holding them for ransom until Britain and the Greek puppet government in Athens meet his demand for amnesty for his band of freedom fighters.
Alexander the Great
Ο Μελισσοκόμος
Theo Angelopoulos
Marcello Mastroianni, Nadia Mourouzi
Feeling himself an outsider in contemporary Greece, a schoolteacher Spyros leaves his job and family to return to his hometown, where he intends to take up the occupation of his ancestors as a beekeeper. Over the course of his road trip he visits the sites and friends of his childhood, hoping to gather the pollen of his past, but instead meets and becomes obsessed with a young hitchhiker who represents the empty hedonism of the present.
The Beekeeper
Skipper Straad
Irini Vachlioti
Meletis Georgiadis, Despo Diamantidou
A seaman finds himself out of work and stranded in a distant port. He shares a cheap room. They take turns sleeping, some in the morning, some at night. Grief! When he will go back to sea? And there! The scent of woman drifts up to seduce him! He realizes he had shared his bed with a lady of the night.
Skipper Straad
Tuđa Amerika
Goran Paskaljević
Tom Conti, Miki Manojlović
This tale takes place in a bar. The Spanish Alonso and his blind mother run this place. Bay, who is Alonso's friend live here too. This story tells something about Alonso and Bay and the "American Dream".
Someone Else's America
Ο Θανάσης στη χώρα της σφαλιάρας
Dinos Katsouridis, Panos Glykofrydis
Thanasis Vengos, Antonis Papadopoulos
The movie is about dictatorships in Greece – first, the Metaxas regime (1936-1940), and then the Colonels’ Junta (1967-74). In Part One, the Metaxas regime is depicted as a circus, where Thanasis (Thanasis Vengos) is a clown trying to conceal a young colleague’s subversive action. In Part Two, we see Thanasis suffer because of his honesty and kindness, in a country where the system’s irrationality is clearly evident.
Thanasis in the land of the cuff
Carefree... Nut
Errikos Thalassinos
Thanasis Vengos, Dionysis Papagiannopoulos
In this color comedy Thanasis trying for years to leave illegally for America to make his life because due to financial can not pay fares, but always something was wrong and left behind. His friend, Nikiforos, advises him to stay in Greece, to work and to look to find the namesake of Thanasis, who helps around the world.
Carefree... Nut
