Feminism and Cinema

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As part of the 31st Greek Film Festival, this special panel discussion celebrates the Australian Premiere of the newly restored 4K version of Maria Plyta’s 1953 film Eva, following its screening in the Cannes Classics section at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival — a historic first for Greek cinema.

Eva was directed by Maria Plyta, Greece’s first female film director and one of the earliest female directors in cinema history. Across her career, Plyta directed 17 feature films — an extraordinary body of work and perhaps the largest number of feature films directed by a woman in the history of Greek cinema.

The panel will welcome Betty-Despoina Kaklamanidou, Professor of Film and Television History and Theory at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, who is leading important research dedicated to restoring Maria Plyta and her body of work to their rightful place in Greek film history. Through the research project Maria Plyta: The First Known Female Greek Director, this work seeks to bring a remarkable filmmaker from the footnotes of Greek cinematic history into the canon.

Celebrating Plyta’s pioneering legacy, the discussion will also shine a light on women’s voices in film and the importance of preserving and rediscovering the stories of those who helped shape Greek cinema. It will consider the significance of restoration not simply as an act of film preservation, but as an opportunity to revisit cinematic history, while reflecting on the enduring connections between cinema, cultural…