
Directing
Stavros Psyllakis
Born 1954-01-30 · Chania, Crete, Greece
Stavros Psyllakis (Chania, January 30, 1954) is a Greek director and producer of anthropocentric documentaries that usually focus on borderline situations of human existence. He has been honored with awards in Greece and abroad, with the most important being the 1st Documentary Award of the Hellenic Film Academy in 2010 for the documentary THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY. He is considered one of the pioneers in Greece in the anthropocentric documentary, with a rich work of over 40 films, in which the films stand out: THE MAN WHO DISTURBED THE UNIVERSE, THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY, METAXA listening to time, OLYMPIA, SMALL STORIES ROMA, TO MESA FOS as well as the trilogy "ODES TO EXISTENCE" which includes the films GIA CHORIS GHORIS GOUOUS meetings with Giorgos Maniatis, OFEILI, APOCHERETISMOS the memory of the place He is a founding member of the Hellenic Film Academy (H.E.A.K.) and the Hellenic Documentary Association (H.E.N.).
Acting credits
6.2A nurse, a paramedic, a gymnast and her coach offer a service for hire wherein they stand in for dead people by appointment, hired by relatives, friends or colleagues of the deceased, to assist with the grieving process.
Alps
2011
5.6Athens 1966. Dimitris, 13, unexpectedly loses his father. Seeing his pampered mother collapse, the boy gets carried away and decides to skip childhood in order to stand by her. When he feels ready, he has to claim his mother back from an up-and-coming star of the military regime. A brutal coming-of-age story, where Dimitris reacts in vengeance, changing thus the course of Greek history...
Backdoor
2000
NRM is a woman Who lives alone. She suffers from insomnia and she needs someone to sleep with her. The process is the following: she finds different people to sleep with each time. She wants the touch of another body in her bed.
The Giraffe
2021
Behind the camera
9.5Even after the Civil War had ended in the rest of Greece, a small rump of the Democratic Army, six men and two women, remained in hiding for 14 years in Chania, Crete, where they continued to take part in illegal political activity. In 1962, six of the former partisans escaped, via Italy, to Tashkent. The documentary focuses on the three who are still alive.
There Was No Other Way
2009
9.5Even after the Civil War had ended in the rest of Greece, a small rump of the Democratic Army, six men and two women, remained in hiding for 14 years in Chania, Crete, where they continued to take part in illegal political activity. In 1962, six of the former partisans escaped, via Italy, to Tashkent. The documentary focuses on the three who are still alive.
There Was No Other Way
2009
9.5Even after the Civil War had ended in the rest of Greece, a small rump of the Democratic Army, six men and two women, remained in hiding for 14 years in Chania, Crete, where they continued to take part in illegal political activity. In 1962, six of the former partisans escaped, via Italy, to Tashkent. The documentary focuses on the three who are still alive.
There Was No Other Way
2009
NRStarting with doctors and staff of the Metaxa anti-cancer hospital who suffer from cancer themselves, we follow this special group of people as they continue to work in the hospital. From the shock of the first time one hears it, to the experience of "… I learnt to listen to time" cancer transforms from a death-threat to a life teacher for these people, not only adding years to their lives, but also adding Life to their years.
METAXA: listening to time
2012
NRStarting with doctors and staff of the Metaxa anti-cancer hospital who suffer from cancer themselves, we follow this special group of people as they continue to work in the hospital. From the shock of the first time one hears it, to the experience of "… I learnt to listen to time" cancer transforms from a death-threat to a life teacher for these people, not only adding years to their lives, but also adding Life to their years.
METAXA: listening to time
2012
NRFor 26 years (1972–1998), Swiss dentist Julien Grivel treated Hansenites (lepers) free of charge in Greece. An inner journey that helped him see the world and life differently. “By adopting the language of the Greeks, I unconsciously adopted their thinking,” he says. His friendship with ex-hansenite Manolis Fountoulakis was a catalyst.
Sculpted Souls
2025
NRFor 26 years (1972–1998), Swiss dentist Julien Grivel treated Hansenites (lepers) free of charge in Greece. An inner journey that helped him see the world and life differently. “By adopting the language of the Greeks, I unconsciously adopted their thinking,” he says. His friendship with ex-hansenite Manolis Fountoulakis was a catalyst.
Sculpted Souls
2025
NRIn "Spaces #1", 8 beloved Greek directors shot, after commissioning by the Festival, a short film at home, making their own timely comment on the new reality that we live in. The project is inspired by the book "Species of Spaces" by the French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist, Georges Perec and the days of quarantine. The idea is to create a film at home, using the environment, the people or the animals in that space. The only outdoor areas that may be used are outdoor living spaces, such as the terrace, the garden, the balcony and the stairwell. "My photograph" is Stavros Psyllakis's submission.
My photograph
2020
NRA documentary focusing on two groups of mental patients. The first is located in the Mental Hospital of Chania and the daily life of patients is presented, their relationships, and their contact with reality. The second group, former patients, travels to Denmark in a rehabilitation journey.
The Man Who Disturbed the Universe
2000
NRA documentary focusing on two groups of mental patients. The first is located in the Mental Hospital of Chania and the daily life of patients is presented, their relationships, and their contact with reality. The second group, former patients, travels to Denmark in a rehabilitation journey.
The Man Who Disturbed the Universe
2000
NRAthanasia, Theodoros, George and Chrysoula live and move around Zefyri, Menidi and the wider region. They no longer live in chattels and camps, but in a modern urban environment, each according to what they can afford. Their children and grandchildren are trying to educate themselves. Through small stories about their lives, each of them slowly unfolds his own special personality. They become people with dreams, hopes and disappointments, but also with an ancestry that has importance.
Short Roma Stories
2014
NRAthanasia, Theodoros, George and Chrysoula live and move around Zefyri, Menidi and the wider region. They no longer live in chattels and camps, but in a modern urban environment, each according to what they can afford. Their children and grandchildren are trying to educate themselves. Through small stories about their lives, each of them slowly unfolds his own special personality. They become people with dreams, hopes and disappointments, but also with an ancestry that has importance.
Short Roma Stories
2014
NRNo synopsis available yet.
The Light Inside
2016
NRNo synopsis available yet.
The Light Inside
2016
NR“In 1981 I started working with Nikos on this job. 30 years have passed so fast. I really enjoy socializing here with people, and having fun together. We didn't make money, but it was beautiful”. Nikos and Thodoris have a repair shop for Vespas in Chania, Crete. Just before their retirement, with grease and bearings on their hands, they host us in their daily lives.
Milonogianni 120, Chania
2011
Yorgos Maniatis (1939–2018), a legionnaire in Algeria at the age of 18, an author and later a musician, defines himself as a “public menace.” This film is not a biopic, but it rather seeks to explore the adventure of his soul: an inflammatory conscience in constant vigilance, which immolates itself. Life changes by those who change their lives, he says.
FOR NO REASON meetings with Giorgos Maniatis
2019
Yorgos Maniatis (1939–2018), a legionnaire in Algeria at the age of 18, an author and later a musician, defines himself as a “public menace.” This film is not a biopic, but it rather seeks to explore the adventure of his soul: an inflammatory conscience in constant vigilance, which immolates itself. Life changes by those who change their lives, he says.
FOR NO REASON meetings with Giorgos Maniatis
2019
NR‘Each person we meet in the course of our life is a journey and we often feel the need to travel with them first class or without luggage and empty pockets’. Alekos Zoukas is a darling man, fun-loving and at the same time a deep thinker. A man you can’t forget once you meet him. In the film, the travels of the director with Alekos Zoukas and his friends to Pirsogianni alternate with Alekos’ confessions about his experience with cancer. A tribute to friendship by a sinful angel…
Debt
2021
NR‘Each person we meet in the course of our life is a journey and we often feel the need to travel with them first class or without luggage and empty pockets’. Alekos Zoukas is a darling man, fun-loving and at the same time a deep thinker. A man you can’t forget once you meet him. In the film, the travels of the director with Alekos Zoukas and his friends to Pirsogianni alternate with Alekos’ confessions about his experience with cancer. A tribute to friendship by a sinful angel…
Debt
2021
Yannis Behrakis and Lefteris Pitarakis have recorded with their cameras notable war events and moments that marked humanity. Dilemma focuses on photojournalism’s importance and the ethical issues that arise during war or extreme violence. A single episode from ERT’s TV series Viewpoint.
Dilemma
2013
NRNo synopsis available yet.
ABEA the congealed time
2002
NROlympia, a 33-year old woman, is already three months pregnant when she finds out that she has lung cancer. After enough thought, she decides to keep the baby. Four months after giving birth to a healthy baby and while her cancer progresses fast, at the initiative of her doctor, Psyllakis and his colleagues will stay near the new mother and her family for four days, recording everything they can.
Olympia
2015
NROlympia, a 33-year old woman, is already three months pregnant when she finds out that she has lung cancer. After enough thought, she decides to keep the baby. Four months after giving birth to a healthy baby and while her cancer progresses fast, at the initiative of her doctor, Psyllakis and his colleagues will stay near the new mother and her family for four days, recording everything they can.
Olympia
2015
NROlympia, a 33-year old woman, is already three months pregnant when she finds out that she has lung cancer. After enough thought, she decides to keep the baby. Four months after giving birth to a healthy baby and while her cancer progresses fast, at the initiative of her doctor, Psyllakis and his colleagues will stay near the new mother and her family for four days, recording everything they can.
Olympia
2015