Director Fokion Bogris first met legendary Greek character actor Kostas Stefanakis when he was in his early 20s. Through their unlikely friendship, the up-and-coming director dove headfirst into, and fell in love with, the then-extinct Greek B-movie underground scene. After Stefanakis’ death, Bogris made The Golden Grip, which tells the lesser-known story of his life and career, interwoven with a love letter to Greek B-movies.
The film, which had its world premiere at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, begins in the 1960s with Kostas leaving his Cretan village to pursue his dream of becoming a star. Over the next 50 years, Bogris struggled both in his personal life and career, unable to break free from the tough-guy stereotype, but Bogris weaved in a wealth of talking heads to chronicle Stefanakis’s triumphs and sorrows as Greek cinema evolved alongside him.
Speaking to Variety ahead of the film’s premiere, Boglis recalled that his first reaction to his friend’s death was to dig through his pile of career archives. The idea for “Golden Grip” was quickly born, and the director spent the next few months researching it further. “Doing something creative was my way of coping with the loss of a friend,” he says.
The project began sporadically, but became increasingly complex as Boglis needed to secure the rights to dozens of Stefanakis’ films. “It was a nightmare,” he recalls. “We realized he was in so many different films that we felt the need to put all the titles in a linear order and consider them from his perspective.”
But Bogris had developed a self-proclaimed “obsession” with Greek exploitation films from a young age, so this study was just one step away for the director. He recalls working with mentor Nicholas Triandafilidis at the famous Greek Cult Film Festival. “I had a huge collection of VHS titles, read books about those movies, and often interacted with the people who made them. Back then, most of the old horses were still alive. Now, most of them are.”
“Watching Greek films from the 70s and 80s made me think about how different the world is today,” the director continues, adding that the research process has rekindled his desire to keep up with what’s new in domestic cinema. “I always pay attention to Greek films. I want to see as many as possible.”
Courtesy of Kostas Stefanakis and Phokion Bogris of “Amercement”
On the theme of the evolving idea of Greek cinema, Bogris emphasizes that he no longer considers the stereotype of the “tough Greek guy” to be a reality today. “Greece doesn’t make B-movies anymore, so that doesn’t exist,” he says. “We don’t have the same tradition of genre filmmaking as, say, Italy. If Kostas had been Italian instead of Greek, he could have been an international B-movie star. He was cool with playing variations on the same role in different movies. In the ’70s, a lot of actors played the same role, and as a result they ended up being typecast.”
Bogris added that because fewer films are being made in Greece today than in the 70s and 80s, there are fewer opportunities for character actors like Kostas to become established. “Kostas’ filmography is wide-ranging. He started acting when Greek commercial cinema was already in decline, but he still appeared in several different films. From the exploitation films of Gusgunis and Liambos to the arthouse films of Angelopoulos, we have everything. There are fewer opportunities available to actors today.”
The director said he was “thrilled” to be attending the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival for the first time with “Golden Grip,” six years after Stefanakis’ last film appearance, the fiction feature film “Amersment,” was screened at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, which was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He hopes to hold a few more screenings around the country and hopes audiences will become “interested” in the films featured in the doc.
“We (also) believe that (‘Golden Grip’) can attract foreign viewers who like B-movies,” he added. “Actors similar to Kostas exist in many other parts of the world.”
As for what’s next, with “Public Figure,” Bogris will be venturing into another niche of Greek art: the country’s largely unexplored rap scene. The director is currently in pre-production and plans to begin shooting in May.
The Golden Grip was produced by Chase the Cut in association with the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center. Chase the Cut handles global sales.
