Gregory J. Markopoulos

Markopoulos, born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, to Greek immigrant parents, began making Super 8 films at just twelve years old and later studied at USC from 1940, under the tutelage of Joseph von Sternberg, while also observing the work of Fritz Lang and Alfred Hitchcock. In the early 1960s, he moved to New York, where he played a pivotal role in the establishment of the New American Cinema movement, contributing both as a filmmaker and a writer. However, towards the end of the 1960s, Markopoulos broke away from this movement in protest against its increasing commercialisation, opting instead for a path of uncompromising artistic independence. In 1967, together with his partner Robert Beavers, he chose to live in self-imposed exile in Europe, mainly residing between Greece and Switzerland, to fully pursue his filmmaking vision, albeit under precarious living conditions. He withdrew his films from mainstream distribution and largely avoided public screenings, leading to his works being rarely seen until his death in 1992. Markopoulos' early films are noted for their eclectic and distinctive exploration of ancient and modern themes across various art forms, and for their complex, avant-garde use of colour, rhythm, and sound. A recurrent theme in many of his films is a powerful, yet conflictual and creative, homoerotic sexuality, which serves as a wellspring for his artistic expression. From the late 1960s onwards, Markopoulos developed the concept of “film as film,” focusing radically on the essential elements of the medium through the single frame. This idea culminated in ENIAIOS, a monumental work lasting over 80 hours, which merges material from earlier works (whose original sources he destroyed during the editing process) with newly filmed content. Concurrently, Markopoulos conceived of Temenos, an archive and screening venue intended to provide an immersive experience of his work. After his death, Robert Beavers continued this vision, establishing a self-managed archive in Switzerland. The concept of a dedicated screening site was realised in a small Greek village in Arcadia, where Beavers and Markopoulos had previously showcased their works in the open air during the 1980s. Since 2004, cycles of ENIAIOS have been screened there every four years, with Beavers, along with filmmaker colleagues, undertaking the painstaking work of restoring and completing the project, as Markopoulos had left only a fragile working copy of the film.