Best Greek documentary movies

4.1 Miles (2017)

A coast guard captain on a small Greek island is suddenly charged with saving thousands of refugees from drowning at sea.

Debtocracy (2011)

Debtocracy seeks the causes of the Greek debt crisis and proposes solutions sidelined by the government and the dominant media. It follows countries like Ecuador that created debt Audit Commissions and tracks this process in Greece.

Catastroika (2012)

The creators of Debtocracy, analyze the shifting of state assets to private hands. They travel round the world gathering data on privatization and search for clues on the day after Greece's massive privatization program.

Arte Povera - The Documentary (2023)

Fotis Georgiadis attempts to combine rap music with opera influences. The making of everybody loves Greek rap wants to see.

Avant-Drag! (2024)

Avant-Drag! paints portraits of ten drag artists of varying gender expressions and sexualities who take to the streets of Athens to query, problematise and (yes, please!) undermine social strictures. Employing wildly imagined personas – like riot housewives and Albanian turbo-folk girls – who perform acts as revolutionary as praising abortion and as charming as drawing childish pictures, these artists call for social justice by taking aim at conservatism, patriarchy, patriotism, racism and sexism.

Departhenon (2021)

After some hiking, two male members of a company remember their past erotic adventures as an ex-couple. The company decides to bring them back their lost eroticism and boldness. While the company realizes its plans it creates a context of sensuality and a symbloic fissure at a space which is agressively charged with heteronormal and nationalistic values, so that the saught eroticism can have a place to flourish.

In-Mates (2020)

In the course of several months, a camera is recording the relationships built between dogs and inmates, during an innovative program introduced by the non-profit organization Save A Greek Stray, and executed (in a pilot phase) at the Women’s Prison of Eleona-Thebes. In an effort to escape from their past, and follow a new way of life, dogs (Toska, Montecristo, Charlize, Richard), and inmates (Antonia and Katerina), are determined to confront their fears and seize a second chance in life.

Laughing in Afghanistan (2023)

Karim Asir, the Afghan Charlie Chaplin, in the midst of bombs and disasters, gives performances using laughter as his only weapon. When the Taliban takeover, Karim is threatened with death. After a series of adversities, he manages to arrive in Greece. We follow his life adventure, and through his story, we explore the issue of laughter – in Afghanistan and beyond.

Sugartown: The Bridegrooms (2006)

In the Greek village of Sugar Town, men have a serious problem. Women are fleeing the area in search of work or marriage in the big cities, leaving them behind - and lonely. Fully aware of the men’s dire situation, the astute mayor of Sugar Town promises to find them wives in Russia, as part of his re-election campaign. Against the odds and local traditions which frown upon mixed marriages, the bridegrooms from SugarTown set out on a great journey to find their future brides and happiness.

Betty (1979)

Between fiction and documentary, this film shows a portrait of the persona of a transsexual that goes far beyond simplistic voyeurism. The film offers a respectful image of masculine sexuality, with a character ahead of its time, through the telling of Betty about his childhood, daily life, pleasure, self-esteem and social marginalization.

Samuel Modiano, The Mission: From Rhodes To Auschwitz (2019)

Documenting the testimony of one of the last surviving Rhodeslis (Rhodian Jews), Sami Modiano, a survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau, this film assumes the tasks of defending historical memory, humanity and dignity.

1968 (2018)

A.E.K., the well-known Greek basketball team founded in 1924 by refugees from Constantinople, after 44 years, beats SLAVIA of Prague and wins the European Cup.

The World's First Computer (2012)

A historical and scientific investigation telling the extraordinary story of how the ancient Greeks built a computer 2,000 years ago. Set against the glorious backdrop of classical Greece, this Grierson-nominated film follows the international research team who finally solved the puzzle of the ‘Antikythera Mechanism’. Scientific breakthroughs illustrated with stunning graphics and reenactments, reveal a trail of mysterious numbers that solved the conundrum of the gears – a real life Da Vinci code set in ancient Greece.

Spiros and the Circle of Death (2020)

Spiros, a motorcycle acrobat of the Circle of Death, lives a nomadic life together with his family, his caravan, and a few acrobats who often abandon him. His dad was a legend of the Circle of Death and so were his uncle and his grandfather – a family tradition for over 50 years! Will Spiros manage to make ends meet, and, furthermore, is this vanishing profession going to get a second wind? Are his sons willing to take the wheel? A human portrait of an old-school lover of speed in a rapidly changing world.

Athens 2004: Olympic Opening Ceremony (Games of the XXVIII Olympiad) (2004)

With the Olympics returning to Greece, the opening ceremony of Athens 2004 sought to show the entire development of the Olympics over the centuries, until arriving at the modern Olympics.

Mourning Rock (2000)

A documentary about Eleusina. The past and the present, in complete antithesis, coexist in a place spoiled by modern industry but which long ago hosted the Eleusinian Mysteries, the secret ceremonies that initiated the ancient Greeks into the miracles of life, death and the afterlife.

90 Years of PAOK: Nostalgia for the Future (2016)

A documentary that chronicles the 90 years of history of the Greek sports club PAOK, not only in athletic but also in social and historical terms.

Un Condor (2016)

When Tomatoes Met Wagner (2019)

Elias, a small farming village in central Greece, is dying out. But two cousins team up with the village grannies to cultivate the tomato seeds they have kept for hundreds of years. With a little help from Wagner’s music –which they use to help their tomatoes grow– the team succeeds to export little jars with organic tomato recipes across the world. The film follows the protagonists of this unlikely quest, as they struggle to survive and make their dream come true. Humorous and bittersweet, this is a story about the importance of reinventing oneself in times of crisis and the power of human relationships.

Being Present (2021)

Almost a year after the global pandemic hit Greece, iMEdD and SmallPlanet, present Yorgos Avgeropoulos’ new documentary entitled “Parontes” (Present). The film, unfolds against the backdrop of the public healthcare system and follows the prominent figures at the forefront of the COVID-19 response, as well as the unsung heroes of the pandemic. Political decisions and backroom maneuvers come under the microscope and are juxtaposed with the struggles of those who bear the brunt of the new crisis on a daily basis. Through the Greek experience, Avgeropoulos manages to capture a universal reality and poses critical questions about the post-Covid era the world is entering.

Dance Fight Love Die: With Mikis On the Road (2017)

An intimate look into the life of composer Mikis Theodorakis from 1987 until 2017: comprising three decades, four continents, 100 locations and 600 hours of film material. The film interweaves personal moments with archive footage, documentary recordings and fictional pieces, all accompanied by Theodorakis’ music in jazz, classic, electro and rap versions.

Kaliarda (2015)

Paola Revenioti and the filmmaking team Paola Team Documentaries present their first documentary feature. Kaliardáwas the secret language of the homosexual community in Greece, from the 40s until the first years following the fall of the dictatorship in the mid-70s. Paola became acquainted with the use of kaliardá towards its end, in the 80s. We started out with an aim to record the history of kaliardá, but along the way we realized we were recording the history of the homosexual community in Greece during the twentieth century. Themes started emerging, such as love, sexuality, hangouts, problems faced by people at the time and how conditions gradually changed. In the documentary, we speak with academics and people from the street who have first-hand experience of our topic.

With Pleasure, Savvopoulos (1975)

The legendary long-lost documentary by Lakis Papastathis about Dionysis Savvopoulos features music videos of songs drawn from the albums *To Perivoli tou Trellou* (The Fool’s Garden), *Ballos*, *Vromiko Psomi* (Dirty Bread), and *10 Chronia Kommatia* (10 Years in Pieces). It also includes an interview and audiovisual material by Papastathis, originally presented during Savvopoulos’ performances at Kyttaro. Additionally, Savvopoulos performs together with Domna Samiou and Sotiria Bellou in a rare musical collaboration.

Into the Land of Ice and Fire (2022)

Two parallel stories are gradually unfolding the everyday life of two very different persons - that of 86-year-old Sara and 7-year-old Mihka - both residing in Guovdageaidnu - Kautokeino, in the middle of the Norwegian arctic tundra, through the drastic change of the arctic seasons and the passage from the long winter’s darkness to the never-ending light of the summer season.

Evidence (1975)

A documentary presenting people and events connected with the most important political developments from the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic in 1973 until the first year of democratic rule after the dictatorship collapsed in 1974.

Yiorgos of Kedros (2020)

A journey in time through the eyes of two generations of filmmakers, at the same remote island in Greece from the 70s up until now. Yiorgos Kolozis went to Donoussa for the first time in 1972 – back then, there was no electricity nor tourists. Staying at Kedros beach all by himself, he acquired the name Yiorgos of Kedros. Yiorgos’s death in 2009 led Yiannis, his son, to continue his work, creating a story in which time is treated as a reconsideration of the present moment.

The Grocer (2013)

A 'road-movie' documentary about Pindus Mountains and their people.

Us: A Movie About Bloody Hawk (2025)

The documentary follows the rapper-phenomenon on his big summer tour, from Athens to Xanthi, and from the moments of glory of the recent past to the even more distant. At a time when Nikolas Kitsos was not yet Bloody Hawk. Following a path away from the media spotlight, avoiding interviews and other public appearances other than his concerts, Bloody reveals himself to the public for the first time.

Final Year (2022)

Sophia, Lhord, Alexandros and Nikos have a hard time finding their place in a school that ignores their needs. They have to cope with the pressure of the Panhellenic exams when their lives are put on hold because of a student occupation that imposes a school lockdown…

Unclickable (2024)

Welcome to the murky world of digital ad fraud, organized crime’s biggest source of income after drug trafficking. A former industry executive pulls the curtain to expose how it’s done, who the victims are, and what role Google and Facebook play in the game.