Biography

Panagiotis Kountouras is a graduate of the Department of Film Studies (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – AUTH) and the Master’s Program in Creative Writing (University of Western Macedonia – UWM), specializing in television & film screenwriting. His films focus on the importance of historical memory, human behavior, revealing elements such as isolation, diversity, and loneliness. In 2020 and 2021, he was selected for Sarajevo Talents (Directors Summit), mentored by Hungarian director Gyula Gazdag.

His films Afaneis Iroes, The Wooden Box, and Emoticon Man have participated in numerous festivals in Greece and abroad. The film IVAN has over 90 festival participations and 14 awards in significant international events. His new feature-length documentaries Mauthausen and All That Insatiable Magic premiered in 2023. They continue their festival journey, with the first securing global distribution by CCS Releasing.

He is the director of the ERT documentary TV series Plans with Tail (93 episodes) and the creator of the successful travel show Selfie (ERT2, 74 episodes). In the 2022-23 season, he co-directed the children’s series Lahana & Hahana (40 episodes) for ERT.

He has served as a director advisor for the EUFORIA transnational program, guiding over 500 students in documentary filmmaking. As part of the documentary series My Name is not Refugee (TV100), he participated as a director in the World Public Television Conference (Input 2017). For four years, he was responsible for the film programs at the E. Mandoulidis Educational Institute, with his students receiving national and international awards. In 2018, he was one of the 6 finalists for the Medea Awards, recognizing global innovation in the use of audiovisual tools in education.

His scripts for TVCs, corporate videos, and advertising campaigns have won awards in international competitions (ODA Awards, CINETOUR, etc.). He is the author of the novel Ela se Mena (Oceanos Publications, 2015), the theatrical musical I Have a Dream (2016), and his short stories have been published and awarded. His short screenplay Fuck Netflix (2021) was selected and distinguished in international script competitions (Cinequest, Orlando Film Festival, etc.). Persephone is his first feature-length fiction screenplay, co-written with Kelly Pilalidis, and is represented in the United States by Omagination Pictures.

Filmography

• 2023, Mauthausen, documentary, 91’
• 2023, All That Insatiable Magic, documentary, 70’
• 2022, Mauthausen: When the War is Over, poetic documentary, 6’
• 2018, IVAN, fiction, 10’
• 2018, C.P. Cavafy: The City, poetic documentary, 3’
• 2017, Emoticon Man, fiction, 20’
• 2014, The Wooden Box, fiction, 21’
• 2012, From the Yards to the Living Rooms, documentary, 38’
• 2012, Afaneis Iroes (Invisible Heroes), documentary, 65’

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