Greek Film Archive

The Greek Film Archive is a nonprofit cultural organization located in Athens, Greece, dedicated to the research, collection, conservation, and dissemination of Greek and international film heritage. It operates as a member of the International Federation of Film Archives and is a founding member of the European Film Gateway. The institution also maintains a cooperative relationship with the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. Through its public screenings, restoration workshops, and museum, the archive plays a central role in preserving and promoting cinematographic history in Greece.

The origins of the institution trace back to November 22, 1950, when members of the Panhellenic Association of Film Critics screened Henri-Georges Clouzot's Le Corbeau at the Parnassos hall and subsequently founded the Athens Cinema Club. Aglaia Mitropoulou, who initially stored the club's film reels in her apartment, served as the club's driving force and later became the archive's first president. Her friendship with Henri Langlois, the director of the Cinematheque Francaise, proved instrumental, as Langlois lent films that allowed the organization to host early festivals, including the first European screenings of Yasujiro Ozu's work in Athens. The club initially moved to larger quarters on Kanari Street in the Kolonaki neighborhood, housed in the Megaron Deligiorgi. The organization was officially established via royal decree 105/1963, formally creating the entity initially known as the Film Archives of Greece, Cinematheque of Greece. On December 4, 2014, the Hellenic Parliament declared the Greek Film Archive an official body dedicated to the preservation of film heritage. Recognition on the international stage came when the institution was honored as the film archive of the year during the 37th Cinema du Reel in Paris.

The archive holds more than 10,000 films, encompassing feature films, short films, documentaries, professional footage, and amateur family films. The collection includes 600 films of Greek origin and 3,300 non-Greek feature films. Beyond moving images, the institution gathers and conserves a wide array of cinematographic documents, including photographs, books, screenplays, set models, newspapers, costumes, advertising material, and programs. The archive maintains contact with similar foreign organizations and the International Federation of Film Archives to develop cultural relations and co-host events.

Among the most significant holdings in the archive's custody is the 1927 Greek film The Adventures of Vilar. This work holds the distinction of being the first film to undergo restoration by the archive's conservation workshops, marking a critical step in the systematic preservation of the country's early cinematic history.

The Greek Film Archive is housed in the former Lais cinema, located in the Kerameikos neighborhood of Athens within the broader Gazi district. The institution relocated to this dedicated building in 2009, which provided the space necessary to expand its public and operational facilities. The site currently accommodates two screening theaters, a museum of cinematography, and dedicated spaces for the collections. The technical restoration and conservation workshops, however, are situated separately in Agia Paraskevi.