Giorgos Arvanitis


Giorgos 'Arvanitis' is a Greek cinematographer.

Life

Arvanitis was born in the village of Dilofo, Makrakomi, Phthiotis, Greece. Having received an education as an electrician in the construction sector, he started working in the movies business in his early 20s, advancing from 2nd camera assistant to finally become a director of photography.

Career

Arvanitis has been an important figure in the Greek film industry, having worked on many films produced by Finos Films. In 1968, he worked on Theo Angelopoulos's first short film Εκπομπή. Since then, he has worked in every single one of Angelopoulos' movies, including award-winning Eternity and a Day, except for the very last trilogy he was shooting.
During his career, his has worked with some of the greatest Greek directors such as Dinos Katsouridis, Pantelis Voulgaris, Michael Cacoyannis, Jules Dassin. In 1989, he moved to France with his wife and three sons looking for a brighter future at a time when the total number of Greek movies was in decline. The same year, he received the Golden Osella for Best Cinematography at the Venice International Film Festival for the movie Australia directed by Jean-Jacques Adrien. Since then he has worked with directors such as Volker Schlöndorff, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Marco Bellocchio, Goran Paskaljevic, Marco Ferreri, Bruno Podalydès, Agnieszka Holland, Amos Gitai, Nikos Panayiotopoulos and the very controversial Catherine Breillat.
He is a member of the Association Française des directeurs de la photographie Cinématographique.

Filmography

International awards and honours

He has received numerous prizes for his work including :