From Cheap Erotic Dramas to B-Movies to Weird Wave: ‘The Golden Grip’ Chronicles Half a Century of Greek Cinema Through ‘Tough Guy’ Kostas Stefanakis

Director Fokion Bogris was in his early 20s when he first met legendary Greek character actor Kostas Stefanakis. Through their unlikely friendship, the budding director got to dive headfirst into — and fall in love with — the then-dying underground scene of Greek B-movies. Following Stefanakis’ death, Bogris set out to tell the little-known story of his life and career to weave a love letter to Greek B-movies with “The Golden Grip.”

The film, which had its world premiere at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, kicks off in the 1960s as Kostas leaves his village in Crete to pursue his dreams of becoming a star. The five decades that follow see the actor struggle both in his personal life and with a career that never quite saw him break away from the tough guy stereotype, with Bogris weaving in a wealth of talking heads to chronicle Stefanakis’s glories and sorrows as Greek cinema evolved alongside the star.