Αρχικά βοηθός σκηνοθέτης, και στη συνέχεια σκηνοθέτης ο ίδιος, για 13 χρόνια στη Φίνος Φιλμ, ο αντικομφορμιστής, μοναχικός σκηνοθέτης Σταύρος Τσιώλης (1937-2019) αποσύρθηκε για μια δεκαπενταετία από τον κινηματογράφο πριν επιστρέψει ξανά, για να ξεκινήσει τη δίκη του, καθαρά προσωπική πορεία, σ’ ένα κινηματογράφο μακριά από τις αποπνικτικές, συχνά απαράδεκτες απαιτήσεις των παραγωγών, για να μας προσφέρει μια σειρά ταινίες, από το «Μια τόσο μακρινή απουσία» (1985) μέχρι το «Γυναίκες που περάσατε από δω» (2017), ταινίες, δοσμένες με ειλικρίνεια και πάθος, πάνω σ’ έναν κόσμο κι έναν τρόπο ζωής, που ο ίδιος έβλεπε μέσα από την κάμερα, με μια καθαρά δική του, αθώα ματιά. Ταινίες ενός ιδιαίτερα αγαπητού φίλου, δοσμένες με την ευγένεια και το λεπτό χιούμορ που τον χαρακτήριζαν, με δικά του σενάρια, με αυτοσχέδιους διαλόγους και ηθοποιούς συχνά ερασιτέχνες, με μια γραφή λιτή, άμεση, από την οποία δεν έλειπαν η φαντασία και η ποίηση.

Νίνος Φένεκ Μικελίδης

Greece – 1986 – color

Direction: Stavros Tsiolis | Screenplay: Stavros Tsiolis, Hristos Vakalopoulos, Konstantinos Tzoumas | Cinematography: Vassilis Kapsouros | Editing: Kostas Iordanidis | Cast: Tasos Denegris, Katerina Tsioli, Konstantinos Tzoumas, Loukia Pistiola, Eva Vlahakou, Hristos Vakalopoulos | Production: Stavros Tsiolis | Runtime: 80’

A middle-aged sociology professor quits his job, leaves his family and lives in a secluded home. His only motive to keep going seems to be his desire to find an unknown woman who appears in a photograph.

Stavros Tsiolis
Filmography
The Young Runaway (1968)
Panic (1969)
The City Jungle (1970)
Abuse of Power (1971)
Such a Long Absence (1985)
About Vassilis (1986)
Invincible Lovers (1988)
Love under the Date-Tree (1990)
Please, Ladies, don’t cry… (1992)
The Lost Treasure of Hursit Pasha (1995)
Let the Women Wait (1998)
Here we Are! (2004)
Women who Passed my Way (2017)

Greece – 1992 – color

Direction: Stavros Tsiolis and Hristos Vakalopoulos | Screenplay: Stavros Tsiolis and Hristos Vakalopoulos | Cinematography: Vassilis Kapsouros | Editing: Kostas Iordanidis
Soundtrack: Makis Bekos | Cast: Argyris Bakirtzis, Makis Bekos, Dimitris Vlahos, Dora Masklavanou, Nikolaos Kekos, Emily Papahristou | Production: Stavros Tsiolis, Giannis Gavrilos | Runtime: 89’

A village in Arcadia invites a "famous" icon painter and his assistant, Theofanis and Theodosios, to restore the worn-out murals in an historic church. Theofanis is an amateur astronomer, and Theodosis is involved in various scams. A pure young girl is apprenticed to them. The villagers flock to the church calling them saints, but in reality they are two minor con artists, who falsely philosophize, observe with their telescope the curves of the women and organize a false auction. With the arrival of winter, the miracles end, and the "cobblers realize they should stick to their last.

*The film won 2 awards (Best Director, Best Screenplay) at Thessaloniki Film Festival in 1992.

Stavros Tsiolis
Filmography
The Young Runaway (1968)
Panic (1969)
The City Jungle (1970)
Abuse of Power (1971)
Such a Long Absence (1985)
About Vassilis (1986)
Invincible Lovers (1988)
Love under the Date-Tree (1990)
Please, Ladies, don’t cry… (1992)
The Lost Treasure of Hursit Pasha (1995)
Let the Women Wait (1998)
Here we Are! (2004)
Women who Passed my Way (2017)


Hristos Vakalopoulos
Filmography
Verantes (1984, short film)
Theater (1986, short film)
Olga Robards (1989)

Greece – 1985 – color

Direction: Stavros Tsiolis | Screenplay: Stavros Tsiolis | Cinematography: Giorgos Arvanitis | Editing: Kostas Iordanidis | Soundtrack: Stamatis Spanoudakis | Cast: Pemi Zouni, Dimitra Hatoupi, Minas Hatzisavas, Zaharias Rohas, Konstantinos Tzoumas, Betty Valasi | Production: Stavros Tsiolis, Giorgos Arvanitis, Ageliki Arvaniti | Runtime: 84’

With her catatonic older sister, Alexandra, smitten by an unjust fate and confined to a bed, Ageliki becomes her guardian angel. More and more, as the unresponsive woman gets trapped in a silent world, Alexandra's family, her aunts, and especially, her cruel mother, strongly believe that, under those circumstances, a public mental institution is now the only solution. But, when they finally succeed in locking Alexandra away in a psychiatric hospital, Ageliki summons up the courage to rebel and to take matters into her own hands. Can Ageliki alone defend their already fragile freedom?

*The film won 3 awards (Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography) at Thessaloniki Film Festival in 1985

Stavros Tsiolis
Filmography
The Young Runaway (1968)
Panic (1969)
The City Jungle (1970)
Abuse of Power (1971)
Such a Long Absence (1985)
About Vassilis (1986)
Invincible Lovers (1988)
Love under the Date-Tree (1990)
Please, Ladies, don’t cry… (1992)
The Lost Treasure of Hursit Pasha (1995)
Let the Women Wait (1998)
Here we Are! (2004)
Women who Passed my Way (2017)

Greece – 1990 – color

Direction: Stavros Tsiolis | Screenplay: Stavros Tsiolis | Cinematography: Vassilis Kapsouros | Editing: Kostas Iordanidis | Soundtrack: Pavlos Papadopoulos, Stamatis Spanoudakis | Cast: Argyris Bakirtzis, Lazaros Andreou, Dora Masklavanou, Vina Asiki, Hristos Vakalopoulos, Vicky Psaltidou | Production: Stavros Tsiolis, Alekos Papageorgiou | Runtime: 84’
Panagiotis and Giannis are two good friends but also rivals in love. The first is a merchant and the second a violinist; one is tall and slim and the other short and fat; one is bossy, the other one mild. Both make an inimitable comic couple, wandering in the Peloponnese, looking for a date tree that will prove the innocence or guilt of the wife of one of them and possibly lover of the other. They are guided by an old picture depicting Panagiotis' wife, Maria, in the arms of Giannis, under a date tree. However, the area of their search, there are no date trees.

*The film won 2 awards (Best Film, Best Actor) at Thessaloniki Film Festival in 1990

Stavros Tsiolis
Filmography
The Young Runaway (1968)
Panic (1969)
The City Jungle (1970)
Abuse of Power (1971)
Such a Long Absence (1985)
About Vassilis (1986)
Invincible Lovers (1988)
Love under the Date-Tree (1990)
Please, Ladies, don’t cry… (1992)
The Lost Treasure of Hursit Pasha (1995)
Let the Women Wait (1998)
Here we Are! (2004)
Women who Passed my Way (2017)

Greece – 1998 – color

Direction: Stavros Tsiolis | Screenplay: Stavros Tsiolis | Cinematography: Vassilis Kapsouros | Editing: Kostas Iordanidis | Soundtrack: Nikos Zervas | Cast: Giannis Zouganelis, Argyris Bakirtzis, Sakis Boulas, Ageliki Iliadi, Emily Papahristou, Katerina Louri, Evi Kalatzi | Production: Stavros Tsiolis, Alekos Papageorgiou | Runtime: 87’

Two men travel to Thassos, where their families are on vacation. On the way, however, various unexpected and comic events happen to them.

Stavros Tsiolis
Filmography
The Young Runaway (1968)
Panic (1969)
The City Jungle (1970)
Abuse of Power (1971)
Such a Long Absence (1985)
About Vassilis (1986)
Invincible Lovers (1988)
Love under the Date-Tree (1990)
Please, Ladies, don’t cry… (1992)
The Lost Treasure of Hursit Pasha (1995)
Let the Women Wait (1998)
Here we Are! (2004)
Women who Passed my Way (2017)

Greece – 1988 – color

Direction: Stavros Tsiolis | Screenplay: Stavros Tsiolis | Cinematography: Vasilis Kapsouros | Cast: Tasos Miliotis, Olia Lazaridou, Konstantinos Tzoumas, Maria Panoutsou, Dimitra Voulgaridi | Production: Stavros Tsiolis, Alekos Papageorgiou | Runtime: 80’

Determined to reunite with his grandmother, twelve-year-old Vasilis summons up the courage to run away from the orphanage. As the boy meanders through the bustling streets of Athens like a fish out of water, as one thing leads to another, he ends up aboard a train bound for Tripoli. Then, a chance encounter with a young woman in distress, stranded somewhere in the rugged mountainous region of Arcadia, will pave the way for an unexpected but equally beneficial alliance and an endless summer road trip in a beat-up jalopy. But, more than anything in the world, Vasilis wants to return home. Is that too much to ask?

*The film won 3 awards (Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography) at Thessaloniki Film Festival in 1988

Stavros Tsiolis
Filmography
The Young Runaway (1968)
Panic (1969)
The City Jungle (1970)
Abuse of Power (1971)
Such a Long Absence (1985)
About Vassilis (1986)
Invincible Lovers (1988)
Love under the Date-Tree (1990)
Please, Ladies, don’t cry… (1992)
The Lost Treasure of Hursit Pasha (1995)
Let the Women Wait (1998)
Here we Are! (2004)
Women who Passed my Way (2017)