Masterclass with Yorgos Lanthimos

A wide-ranging conversation with the most distinguished contemporary Greek filmmaker, revealing aspects across the full spectrum of the creative process, from the initial conception of an idea and the development of the script to its translation into visual storytelling. Through specific examples, both the philosophical and the practical sides of filmmaking are examined, such as the importance of space, time, and rhythm, collaboration with actors, the development of a distinctive physical and performative language, and the relationship between director and cinematographer, across the three main stages of making a film: preparation, shooting, and editing/post-production.

Yorgos Lanthimos returns to the beginnings of his journey as a filmmaker and shares the processes, doubts, and decisions that have shaped his idiosyncratic cinematic gaze. What does it mean, in the end, to have built a filmography that is instantly recognizable from the very first shot?

The art of photography is an integral part of the discussion, as the masterclass takes place on the occasion of Yorgos Lanthimos’ first exhibition in Greece, at the Onassis Stegi -1, which participants can visit with free admission. A practice that began initially on film sets, with images that function as “small fragments of narrative,” in the words of the exhibition’s curator, Michael Mack, gradually developed into an autonomous, reflective, and distinct personal language, as captured in the ongoing series “No Word for Blue,” which is being presented for the first time worldwide.

The masterclass has an educational, dialectical format and is aimed primarily at young artists and students, as well as professionals interested in the creative process behind a cinematic and photographic work.