"Nothing More Than to be Recognized as a Collector": a Study of Tainiothiki Tis Ellados During Greece's Dictatorship of the Colonels (1967-1974)

The Greek Film Archive (Ταινιοθήκη της Ελλάδος/Tainiothiki tis Ellados) has been the largest archive of Greek film history since 1963. This thesis will provide a description of Tainiothiki’s activities during Greece’s Dictatorship of the Colonels (1967–1974). By establishing a timeline of screenings, investigating notes and correspondences, and looking into the censorship archive and Tainiothiki’s funding history, this thesis will attempt to answer the research question of how the Junta affected the film archive’s operations. It will illuminate the ramifications of the Junta’s policies on the film archive and the perspectives and tactics of those working at Tainiothiki during the period. It will argue that Tainiothiki’s sometimes inconsistent behaviour can be best understood through the institution’s primary obligation to film exhibition, rather than a rigid political ideology. However, the manner in which this period was navigated reveals a case study of an archive operating in a potentially hostile political environment.