Born in 1949, in Greece, Michel Demopoulos, studied cinema in France, as well as classical literature and linguistics. As a young man, he worked as a critic for various publications, was editor-in-chief and director of the prestigious film magazine Synchronos Kinimatografos, made the medium-length documentary I alli Skini / The Other Stage during the shooting of the film by Theo Angelopoulos, with whom he was also friends, O Thiasos / The Travelling Players (1974-75). In 1995, he curated the largest retrospective of Greek cinema ever held abroad, at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and published the book Le Cinéma grec.
From 1991 to 2005, he was the director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. During this period, he edited several books on filmmakers such as Robert Bresson, Luis Buñuel, Wong Kar Wai, Jerzy Skolimowski, among others. He organised several retrospectives and film weeks in Italy, Spain, France, Holland, Poland, Mexico, etc.
He was part of the Board of the Media Programme "Europa Cinemas", was Executive Consultant for the fictions and co-productions of the Greek public television channel ERT, and a member of the European Parliament's Lux Prize Committee. He participated as a jury member in various film festivals around the world and worked as a producer for Steficon, based in Athens.
From 2014 to 2022 he was part of the LEFFEST selection committee. His contribution, whether writing texts, presenting films or taking part in talks, was always dedicated and passionate, combining a great knowledge of classic and modern cinema with an enormous enthusiasm for discovering new directors.
