The Greek-born American filmmaker Gregory J. Markopoulos (1928-1992) was one of the most original filmmakers in American experimental film history. His films, which often translated literary or mythological sources to a contemporary context, are celebrated for their extraordinary creativity, the sensuous use of color and innovations in cinematic form.

Through A Lens Brightly: Mark Turbyfill by Gregory J. Markopoulos
15 min, 16mm, color 1966

The Sparrow Dream by Robert Beavers
29 min, 16mm, color 2022

Kopfüber im Geäst by Ute Aurand
15 min, 16mm, color/b&w, silent 2009

Under the banner of ‘film as film’, the absolute cinema of Greek-American Gregory J. Markopoulos (1928–1992) alternates between fixed sequence shots and autonomous photograms. His work is based on portraits of people and places, and partly on adaptations of Hellenic myths. His last epic work, Eniaios (1948–1990, approx. 80 hours), reassembles his earlier films in a new order, combining them with new ones shot for the occasion. Since 2004, the restored work has been screened every four years at Temenos, an open-air utopian projection space in Greece.

Introduced by Peter Todd with Luke Fowler, Anthea Kennedy and Ian Wiblin in attendance.

“There is no language. There is no art. There is no knowledge. There is but film as film: the beginning and the eternal moment.” – Gregory J. Markopoulos

“In poetry, something else happens. Hard to say what it is. Presence, let’s say, soul or spirit, an empathy with whatever it is that’s dwelt upon, feeling for it – to the point of identification". – Margaret Tait