Dimitris Gaziadis

Biography

Dimitris Gaziadis was a Greek cinematographer, one of the first directors of Greek cinema and the founder of the film company "Dag Film" together with his brothers, Mihalis Gaziadis and Kostas Gaziadis. He studied photography in Germany and for several years he taught at the Imperial Film Academy in Munich while working as a military cameraman in Berlin with his own film company. During WWI, Gaziadis was the head of the German army film service. Consequently, the Greek government assigned him in 1919 to film scenes from the operations of the Asia Minor campaign. Indeed, Dimitris Gaziadis responded to this invitation and returned to Germany and after procuring the necessary machines and material he returned and crossing Asia Minor he shot several films from the front including the battle of the Sangarios. Thus he created his first film Greek Miracle (1922) with footage shot on location in Smyrna. In the meantime, in 1920, together with his brothers Kostas (a cameraman, who had returned from America where he systematically followed the development of cinematography) and Mihalis, he founded in Athens the first film production company that bore the name "Dag Film", where until 1930 he directed the first notable Greek silent films. However, after the appearance of talking pictures, Dag Film was unable to face the competition of foreign films and as a result it was disbanded.