The Most Famous
FILM DIRECTORS from Cyprus
This page contains a list of the greatest Cypriot Film Directors. The pantheon dataset contains 2,041 Film Directors, 1 of which were born in Cyprus. This makes Cyprus the birth place of the 67th most number of Film Directors behind Colombia, and Syria.
Top 2
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Cypriot Film Directors of all time. This list of famous Cypriot Film Directors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Michael Cacoyannis (1922 - 2011)
With an HPI of 58.33, Michael Cacoyannis is the most famous Cypriot Film Director. His biography has been translated into 33 different languages on wikipedia.
Michael Cacoyannis (Greek: Μιχάλης Κακογιάννης, Michalis Kakogiannis; 11 June 1922 – 25 July 2011), sometimes credited as Michael Yannis, was a Greek Cypriot theatre and film director, writer, producer, and actor. Much of his work was rooted in classical texts, especially those of the Greek tragedian Euripides. His most acclaimed work is the 1964 film Zorba the Greek, an adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' novel of the same name. He also directed the 1983 Broadway revival of the musical based on the film. In addition to directing, he also wrote, produced, translated, and designed dozens of stage play and opera productions.He was nominated for an Academy Award five times, a record for any Cypriot film artist. He received Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay nominations for Zorba the Greek, and two nominations in the Best Foreign Language Film category for Electra (1962) and Iphigenia (1977). He received many other international accolades, including the Technical Grand Prize from the Cannes Film Festival, as well as six Palme d'Or nominations.
2. Dome Karukoski (b. 1976)
With an HPI of 35.62, Dome Karukoski is the 2nd most famous Cypriot Film Director. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Thomas August George Dome Karukoski (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈdome ˈkɑruˌkoski]; born 29 December 1976) is a Finnish film director. He has won over 30 festival awards and having directed six feature films that became blockbusters in his home country and also received international recognition.
People
Pantheon has 2 people classified as Cypriot film directors born between 1922 and 1976. Of these 2, 1 (50.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Cypriot film directors include Dome Karukoski. The most famous deceased Cypriot film directors include Michael Cacoyannis. As of April 2024, 1 new Cypriot film directors have been added to Pantheon including Dome Karukoski.
