A documentary about the Engonopoulos Archive
A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE ENGONOPOULOS ARCHIVE
Georgios Vassiliou, Ioanna Zygoura, Odysseas Manolaros
Athens, July 2025
Import
Nikos Engonopoulos was one of the most distinguished and multidimensional artists of Greek art of the 20th century. A poet, a painter, a director, a translator, a teacher, a creator who we see refusing to be limited to a single artistic identity. His contribution to Greek surrealism was decisive, while his need to express the paradoxical and the imaginary through it made him an artist of timeless importance.
The idea for our documentary creation was born from our desire to re-approach Engonopoulos' work through modern means of expression and to bring it in connection with today. During our visit to his archive at the Athens School of Fine Arts, we came into contact with authentic documents that function not only as historical documents, but also as evidence of the life of a man who dedicated his life to art.
Our work took the form of a documentary, because we believe in the power of audiovisual material as well as the impact it has on modern man. The documentary functions as a "living" means of narration with the image, the sound and especially the human voice that make the direct connection of the viewer with the artist, his work as well as his cultural imprint. Through the documentary we seek to attract the general public to the artistic and research value of the work and of the artist and poet himself.
In order to achieve the result, we focused particularly on how he reinterpreted the Greek tradition through a surrealistic lens, how his paintings converge myth and fantasy, and history with dreams. Through interviews with professors, art historians and scholars of his work, we try to highlight the personal contribution and passion of the people who make an archive alive and accessible.
As far as our methodological approach is concerned, we relied on the use of archival material, field research and finally the creation of a result that combines creative expression with historical documentation. The distribution of roles in the team, the selection of the material and finally the elaboration of the plans were done with the aim of creating a result that we believe that Nikos Engonopoulos would find worthy of his work.
Theoretical and Historical Context
Nikos Engonopoulos was deeply passionate about all forms of art and devoted at least five hours a day to painting. His love for art is obvious, as in addition to being a painter, he was also an important poet. He was also involved in directing, writing and translation. He had characteristically stated: "My great love in life was only painting. Every hour that I don't dedicate to painting, I consider it a wasted time." He was one of the few who professionally followed the path of art at a time when this was not common.
He was born on October 21, 1907 in Athens and is considered a member of the so-called "Generation of the '30s", although he did not accept this characterization. His father was a Phanariot, and he was proud of his origins. In his last years, he said that he would miss being a Greek citizen, but that he hated nationalism.
From an early age he was forced to move to Paris – where he attended school there – by his mother's decision and lived there with his uncle. French culture exerted a great influence on Engonopoulos, both on his artistic and personal side. Classical French artists, such as Claude Monnet and Jules Verne, as well as theories of French art, had a significant influence on him. This effect was even evident in his daily life, as when he returned to Greece he used French expressions and found it difficult to adapt. When he lived in Paris, he experienced intense loneliness, which probably affected his character. He was forced to return to Greece to serve his military service.
He studied fine arts with well-known Greek artists, such as Konstantinos Parthenis and studied in 1938. He had great admiration for the Virgin, not only because of his works but also because he considered him quite moral as a human being. During his studies, he came into contact with various types of art such as traditional, Byzantine and post-Byzantine art.
Multiculturalism is also evident in his works, as he often depicts heroes from various peoples, such as Greeks, Turks and Albanians. Michalis Chrysanthopoulos, a professor of General and Comparative Literature at the Department of Philology at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, has mentioned that Giorgio de Chirico is the "other side of the same coin", since they were both surrealists, poets and painters. However, Engonopoulos sought to integrate the Greek tradition into surrealism and re-interpret it in a new, more contemporary context. In other words, he tried to give a fresh look at Greek myths and heroes.
His poetic debut took place in 1938 with the play "Don't talk to the driver. I", which was published by Cyclos Publications. Although initially the public welcomed it with negativity – to the extent that the artist considered it a scandal against him – the work made him more widely known. In addition, according to the artist, there was a lack of interest in new movements by journalists. However, the following year the artist's first exhibition took place at the home of Nikos Kalamaris, with strong influences from De Kirikos and Fotis Kontoglou, which can be seen in works such as "Poet and Muse" and "Homeric with the Hero". In general, it often dealt with the naked body and the absurd. Paradoxically, after the Second World War and especially during the period of the Greek Civil War, when pessimism prevailed in our country, his surrealist language began to reach the public more and his works received a more positive reception. He is considered the man who introduced surrealism in Greece, at a time when this trend was not widely accepted, both in the West and in our country.
As mentioned before, despite being part of the "Generation of the '30s", he felt uncomfortable with this identification, as many representatives of this generation came from bourgeois families – something that was not the case for him.
As a personality, Engonopoulos was considered difficult. He had an opinion on everything, which he expressed in an intense, often provocative and ironic way. He also loved traveling and loved to come into contact with all kinds of art. He had even pursued free artistic studies.
Detailed Description of the Creative Work
The work we have created is a documentary dedicated not only to Nikos Engonopoulos but also to the people behind archiving and cultural heritage. We chose this theme because we wanted to illuminate the unseen, the people who become responsible for archiving a great artist, in order to highlight the human factor behind the archive. Despite the impact that the artist has on the Greek mass, but also not only, there is a large volume of unpublished anecdotes and unexpected material. At the same time, through the documentary we wanted to renew the interest in Nikos Engonopoulos mainly among the Greek audience. Thus, with the use of an interactive audiovisual medium, such as the documentary, we gave life to the archival material that remained unknown to the general public, illuminating the personality and work of Nikos Engonopoulos with a modern look.
The documentary does not follow a specific structure, but focuses and is organized around three short interviews of the special researchers who were directly involved with the Engonopoulos archive. The interviewees for selection are Charalambos Otampasis, Doctor of Philology, Thanos Makris, visual artist, scientist and artist from the Athens School of Fine Arts and Elisavet Arseniou, professor of Modern Greek Literature from the Department of Communication, Media and Culture of Panteion University. The three interviewees were chosen because each of them gives a different perspective based on their field and their relevant research on the archive.
Short B-rolls are interspersed between the questions, mainly from spaces of the Athens School of Fine Arts, which not only break the visual monotony but also give atmosphere, creating a coherent rhythm in the documentary. At the same time, the music track "Pieces of Light" by Tobias Voigt can be heard, which was chosen because of the emotional tone that comes to complement both the style of the work and the artist himself.
The main element of the narrative is their realization in the library area of the School of Fine Arts. The choice of location was fully conscious as it functions as a conceptual choice. Elisavet Arseniou was placed in an alternative setting, behind a computer, with the aim of breaking up the visual monotony and enhancing the diversity of shots. However, the space remains within the Library of the Athens School of Fine Arts — an environment that, among other things, hosts furniture with special symbolism, such as the chair inspired by the Bauhaus movement, an element that reinforces the aesthetic and ideological conversation with the work of Nikos Engonopoulos
Through the answers of the experts, a polyphonic image is created, where each contributor - through its space, attitude, and speech - contributes to the multifaceted recognition of the archive. Mr. Otabasis introduces the documentary and the progress of the archive's collection, highlighting the initiative of Mrs. Engonopoulou, who offered most of it. Between the interviews there are successive footage from both the material of the archive itself and from the fourth-year students of Panteion University, who dealt with the archive as part of their courses.
The depiction of the careful processing of the archival material, with the use of special equipment, captures the sensitivity and respect that this requires. The importance of preserving and highlighting the cultural reserve, which cannot be approached in fragments or superficially, but requires specialized knowledge, methodology and a deep understanding of the historical and artistic context, is underlined. If we look at it through the theory of cultural memory, it is an act of "preservation of identity", as through the documents the artist is preserved and given meaning as a subject and personality of history. Therefore, it is a process that combines scientific precision with the emotional charge of memory.
More specifically, Professor Elisavet Arseniou refers with enthusiasm to the artist's manuscripts, emphasizing that the unpublished material offers interpretative "keys" for his works. The material comes to complete the puzzle of interpretation in the artist's work, because it provides us with important notes and evidence from a variety of archived works. In this way, it gives us the opportunity to learn about the creative process and not just the finished work. In addition, it highlights the multiplicity of Engonopoulos' influences – mythology, history, philosophy, modernism – and how their elements coexist in this interdisciplinary archive. This way of composing is, in essence, an "interdisciplinary reading" of art, where it allows the study of Engonopoulos not only as a poet and painter but also as a cultural phenomenon. Apart from this, the professor says that participation in this project was an important dream of the team, which would not have been possible without the funding of the Foundation for Research and Innovation (RIF) and the contribution of Errietta Engonopoulou. A work that manages to cover not only the artistic field but also the sciences of sociology, anthropology and history.
Thanos Makris focuses on how each element – even the most mundane or "seemingly insignificant", such as rough notebooks or press release notes – contributes to the restoration of the artist's completeness. At the same time, he emphasized the existence of the artist's post-mortem diary, as it is a touching document and acts as the decoding of several of his works. At this point it is important to emphasize that archiving ceases to be just a research process but also becomes a collection of memory and emotion. Later in the video he describes the importance of archiving as well as the importance of unpublished material, the promotion of which becomes valuable — not only for artists and researchers, but also for the general public, enhancing the collective memory and reception of his work.
As far as aesthetics are concerned, the documentary follows a minimalist approach, with minimal intervention in the colors and the frame, emphasizing natural light and space. The use of B-rolls[1], music and camera changes aimed at visual respite and the emotional connection of the viewer with the work. The main goal of our work is the value of archiving to the viewer and the promotion of the unpublished material of the artist Nikos Engonopoulos. Archival work is not just a technical process, but is an essential cultural act, which actively contributes to the formation of cultural heritage, through the commitment and passion of the experts who carry it out.
The creation of the documentary was a complex process with the main prerequisite being intensive collaboration and creative flexibility by all team members. From the initial stages of the research to the final editing, the process presented a plethora of technical and organizational challenges. Despite the challenges, through the extensive study of the material and the involvement with the archive, we managed to capture the silenced pieces that characterize the artist's work. Through access to the archive, we were given the opportunity to highlight an important modern artist through a modern and documented perspective.
The initial approach to the documentary began with bibliographic and online research on Engonopoulos and his archives. In particular, emphasis was placed on his role in Greek and beyond art, his relationship with the surrealism movement, the history of the archiving of his works and the existing sources. In this way, we came into first contact with his work and the importance of his archive, so that we were able to ask essential questions to the guests. The questions were designed with the aim of covering three main axes: the archiving process, the personal impressions of experts from Engonopoulos' work and the importance of preserving cultural memory. At the same time, Odysseas Manolaros was in charge of the research documentation and the overall presentation of the framework of the project, while Georgios Vassiliou was responsible for the camera, sound and technical supervision of the recording.
Communication with the experts was one of the most crucial stages of the process. The availability of all three guests had to be coordinated, permission to use the spaces at the School of Fine Arts had to be secured and the filming had to be planned precisely. Despite the fact that the team consisted of only three people, we managed to successfully organize the interviews, showing flexibility and team spirit.
The video was filmed using semi-professional equipment: a Canon EOS 650D (18MP) camera with a 50mm f/1.8 STM lens, supported on a tripod for the sake of stability of the shots, and the microphone from the iPhone 13 was used for the recording, the sound of which was satisfactory for the purpose of the project. Due to the limited technical infrastructure, emphasis was placed on the natural lighting of the interiors and the content of the interviews.
Ioanna Zygoura took on the burden of editing. The free version of DaVinci Resolve was used for color correction and basic image editing. Also, the Canva platform was utilized and facilitated in the final drafting of the audiovisual material, since it allowed all members to collaborate simultaneously on the same file. As it was the constant feedback and collaboration, it was necessary for the completion and condensing of the documentary.
Regarding the creation of graphics in the presentation, the Affinity suite was used. Where it allowed us to adapt the design to the aesthetics of the documentary with the wide range of tools it provides. At the same time, the presentation of the project at Panteion University was designed through the Figma platform. Which is a tool that offers the possibility of simultaneous collaboration in real time.
In the final editing, we chose to preserve a large part of the original shots, avoiding excessive cuts. This choice was conscious as our ultimate goal was to preserve the naturalness of the interviews and highlight the physical element behind the archive. The use of B-roll[2] material from the School of Fine Arts – books, paintings, photographs, outdoor space – had a dual purpose: provide visual flow to the video and provide visual evidence of the archiving process. For example, the shot of leafing through photos with gloves adds a sense of attention to the management of the material.
As for the presentation, it was important for us to render the slides like a living painting, referring to the paintings of Engonopoulos. Our inspiration is the artist's official website, which seeks to promote the artist. During the presentation, the process and purpose of the methodology were emphasized, with particular emphasis on the human factor and the importance of documentation.
In summary, this is a task that was carried out with limited technical equipment but a plethora of resources. However, through the extensive collaboration of both the team and the professors-researchers, a project was concluded that demonstrates the values of collaboration and creativity. Elements that characterize both the artist's archive and himself. Finally, through research, documentation and presentation, we highlighted archiving not only as a technical process, but as a link between the artist, the public and the experts.
Conclusions
The process of producing the documentary was encouraging for the whole team, both individually and as a team. The first stage of the research cultivated enthusiasm and curiosity through the shared vision. During the interviews, feelings of empathy and responsibility towards people who share their personal views and knowledge emerged, even when they differ from our beliefs. On the editing side, anyone who hasn't dealt with this part will quickly learn that it's a very creative but exhausting process that often takes more time than all the stages of making the documentary together. An important part that we must mention is that the collective decision on what "stays" and what is "cut" can often cause conflicts but also bring about their resolution. Finally, as far as team dynamics are concerned, since the process is cooperative, team bonding is required, which cultivates communication, patience and tolerance.
Our documentary contributes to cultural heritage by preserving, promoting and highlighting the great work of Nikos Engonopoulos, and how this is connected to today's man. Through image, sound and speech, the elements of culture are preserved and highlighted and transmitted to the next generations.
As for further gaps and improvements, although the documentary tries to offer a complete experience, there are gaps and suggestions for the development of the project. A major goal of this project was to renew the artist's interest in new generations through the medium of documentary. In order for the documentary to reach as many people as possible, it could be screened at various cultural preservation events, such as the National Gallery or the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. An exhibition focusing on Engonopoulos could also be created. In addition, the television station ERT1 had previously broadcast a documentary by the artist. A collaboration could be made and the documentary of this project could be broadcast so that it can come into contact with even more people. In addition, an interview with Erietti Engonopoulou, RIF and other experts would complete the documentary and our goal.
The result of the documentary was first of all to renew the artist's interest and to show the audience his multidimensional form. It was important to "re-read" Engonopoulos for the new generations. In addition, people learned about the process of collecting an archive and collecting it – it is the result of the work of many researchers, professors, archivists...
On a personal level, the team developed collaborative skills, spread the grandson's works, and added the human factor behind the archives. Practice our technical skills and we have contributed to the story of a great artist.
Bibliography – Appendices
Software used
● https://www.figma.com/ https://www.canva.com/ https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/
● https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
Bibliography
● YouTube. (2023, May 1). Nikos Engonopoulos | A film about his life and work [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL5aoRhbbCE
● Lifo. (2022, November 3). Nikos Engonopoulos through 140 of his rare works. https://www.lifo.gr/culture/eikastika/o-nikos-eggonopoylos-mesa-apo-140-spania-erga-toy
● National Gallery of Greece. (n.d.). Engonopoulos Nikos. https://www.nationalgallery.gr/artist/engonopoulos-nikos/
● Nikos Engonopoulos Foundation. (n.d.). Home page. https://www.engonopoulos.gr/_homeEL/
● Adobe. (ch.c.). What is B-roll? Adobe. https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/video/discover/b-roll.html#what-is-b-roll
● Engonopoulos, N. (1999). The Angels in Paradise Speak Greek: Interviews, Comments and Opinions (G. Kentrotis, Ed.). Ypsilon Publications.
● Cangelaris, P. D. (1991). Quests in Contemporary Greek Painting – The Cangelaris Collection (Vol. 1). Athens: [Publisher]. ISBN 960-220-134-7
● Municipal Art Gallery of Psychiko – Legacy of M. & T. Lefa. (2008). Contemporary Greek Painting: Chancellor's Collection (Exhibition Catalogue). Psychiko.
● Kefala, E. (2007). Peripheral (Post) Modernity. Peter Lang.
● Mavrotas, T. (Ed.). (2022). Nikos Engonopoulos. The Orpheus of Surrealism. The B & M Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts and Music
[1] Adobe. (ch.c.). What is B-roll? Adobe. https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/video/discover/b-roll.html#what-is-b-roll
[2] Adobe. (ch.c.). What is B-roll? Adobe. https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/video/discover/b-roll.html#what-is-b-roll
