Yannis Economides

Yannis Economides was born in Cyprus in 1967. In 1987 he moved to Athens, Greece, to pursue studies in law, but almost immediately quit law school to study filmmaking instead.

After making several documentaries and short films, in 2003 he wrote and directed his first feature film, the iconic "Matchbox". His second feature, "Soul Kicking", premiered at the International Critics' Week at Cannes Film Festival in 2006. His third feature, "Knifer", premiered at Busan International Film Festival in 2010 and went on to win seven Greek Film Academy Awards including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. His fourth feature, "Stratos (To Mikro Psari)”, had its world premiere in the Official Competition of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival in 2014.

In 2016 Yannis Economides wrote and directed his first play, "Sleep, Stella, Sleep" for the New Stage of the National Theatre in Athens, which became a huge critical and commercial hit.

His fifth feature, "Ballad for a pierced heart", premiered in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and managed to become a box office hit in Greece. The film received 15 Greek Film Academy nominations, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. In November 2022, "Matchbox - The Musical", premiered at the main stage of Onassis Stegi, in libretto and artistic direction by Yannis Economides.

His sixth and most recent feature film, titled “Broken Vein,” was released in Greek theaters on November 27, 2025, to great commercial and critical success.

All six of his feature films have been honored with the Greek Film Critics Association Award for Best Greek Feature Film of the Year.

In 2026, he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the Hellenic Open University.

All of his films have screened at several prestigious international film festivals.