Biography
Elias Malandris was born in Athens and he is originated from Kasos island. He studied Theatre at the Drama School of the Athens Conservatory. He completed Theatre Studies and Film and Television Studies at New York University and is now studying humanities / Greek and European culture at the Department of Greek Studies of the Open University of Patras. Since 1987 he works in radio and television. He has collaborated with a number of Greek television channels ERT (Hellenic Radio TV) ANT-1, ALFA, SKAI and with the channel Blumberg in New York. He has directed more than 1000 variety programs and from 1992-2001 he was presenting the TV show " Estin oun"(It was back then) on the revival of ancient Greek drama on channel Seven-X and from 2008 until today in the channel of the House of the Parliament.
The series of "Test: A Fourth Dimension" that was a dramatization of the works of the poet Yannis Ritsos was honored by the Department of Modern Greek Studies at the Complutance University of Madrid and it is taught at the courses there. https://youtu.be/ynhDq9xO200 He had presented some appreciable TV emissions that were tributes to the history of the Greek National Theatre, Theatre of Art, of Amphitheatro and of the Theatrical Organisation of Cyprus. He also presented at the channels Seven-X and the Channel of the House of Greek Parliament the series called "The Streets of the archangel" about the life and art of the composer Mikis Theodorakis.
He has made three short films: "The Water," " The Songs of Agony", "The Twelve Words of the Gypsy." On 2000 he completed and presented a documentary about the ancient customs in Thrace under the title of "Tsaousli." In 2004 he presented the musical TV program "The sea tells me a lot when it echoes ...".
On 1997, in collaboration with the Euro Info Media and the European Cultural Centre of Delphi, he presented and directed two dramatic works of the poet Angelos Sikelianos "The Last Orphic Dithyramvos" and "Daedalus in Crete" in a first world performance at the Ancient Theatre of Delphi with the participation of Christos Changas, Stratos Tzortzoglou, Dina Ritsou, Mario Frangoulis, Lambros Tsangas and Olga Tournaki. The music was by Jiannis Markopoulos and the scenography by Denny Vachlioti.
From 1998 he travelled around the world with the musical "The Liturgy of Orpheus' (Orpheus ' Ritual) with the music of Jiannis Markopoulos.He had directed performances in the most of the Ancient Greek and Roman theatres. In 2000 he directed two performances "Re-birth" at Herodium (Herodes Atticus Roman Theatre under Acropolis) and "The Song of Achilles" in the theatre Brachon.(Theatre of the Rocks)
The summer of 2001 he presented in the Herodium the "24 Pyrrhic dances" with Konstantinos Papadimitriou and the Symphony Orchestra of ERT ( Hellenic Radio TV) and completed his first long film entitled "The Yusuri" with the participation of Turkish actor Amet Tzorta and of V. Bisbikis, A . Papadimitriou, T. Manesi, Dina Ritsou with the music of Stavros Xarchakos and with the traditional band Palaiina Schefferia (Old armies) which is a metaphor of the 'Words of the ship-head "of the novelist Andreas Karkavitsas. On 2002 he presented "The Liturgy of Orpheus" and "The Paper Dreams" at the Athens Concert Hall Megaron with Mario Frangoulis and Deborah Mayers, and «The Lightwell" by the actress Anna Synodinou at the theatre Brettania in Athens.
On 2003 he presented "The Muddy Waters" of the poet Nikos Kavvadias in Athens Concert Hall, Megaron with numerous famous Greek artists such as Demetra Galani, Mariza Koch, Nena Venetsanou, Marios Frangoulis, Andreatos, Jiannis Koutras which was a production of The Company of Friends of the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus, starting then a collaboration of almost a decade when presidents of the Company were the ladies A. Ntaifa and E. Meleti. In the same summer he presented "Piraeus and the sea" in Veakio Open Theatre of Pireus with Stelios Dionysiou, Memos Begnis Sofia Michaelides, Andreas Smirnakis, the participation of Marios Frangoulis choreographed by John Giaple. Also "The Liturgy of Orpheus" at the archaeological site of the Tomb in the Marathon with Zachos Terzakis and Kostas Kazakos and also in the Ancient Theatres of Ephesus and of Delphi.
On 2004 he published the study "Achilleis" which is a reconstruction of the lost Aeschylus trilogy, Myrmidones, Nereides, Phrygians and was presented by the Greek festival and the Cyprus Theatre Organisation at Epidaurus ancient theatre in the summer of 2004 with the collaboration of Despina Bebedeli, Jenny Gaitanopoulou, Stelios Kafkaridis, Marios Frangoulis, rising protests by Greek philologists but he was vastly praised by the international press and divided the critics. In 2004 he published the book "Mikis Theodorakis" with DVD edited by E. M , project produced by FM records.
On 2005 he directed the play "Old Neighbourhood" with Tanya Tsanaklidou and Mario Frangoulis, with the participations of John Tsimitselis, Sia Koskina and Fotini Darra at the Veakio Open Theatre of Piraeus.
At 2006 he presented at Herodium the musical project dedicated to the Nobelist poet Odysseus Elytis "When I speak about the sun" with Marios Frangoulis, Fotini Darra and Manolis Lidakis on the songs and and of Despina Bebedeli and Grigoris Valtinos reciting the Nobel prized poem "Axion Esti". During the winter he presented two projects at the Second and the Third Public radio programs , first "The Siege of Leningrad" with the actresses Antigone Valakou and Maya Lymperopoulou and secondly the first reading of the reconstructed lost drama of Sophocles "Colchis" with Tzortzoglou, Koutsaftiki, Mariza, Derebei, Smirnakis . Also a TV tribute to Odysseus Elytis with the actors Niki Triantafyllidi, Titika Nikiforaki, Kostas Messaris, Olga Tournaki and the singer Maria Dimitriadi.
The 2007 he presented a tribute to Lorca and its tour around Greece with "The Dark Love" with Frangoulis, Derebei, Perris, Klironomos and the guest participation of Eleni Peta. He also directed the concerts of Marios Frangoulis worldwide. For seven years he was the artistic director of the festival of Kasos island.
In the summer of 2008 he represented Greece in the international festivals of Ephesus (Izmir) with the reconstruction of Euripides' Phaethon "directed by Nikos Haralambous and with the actors Despina Bebedeli, Stelios Kafkaridis and the music of Michalis Christodoulides. He also directed a musical tribute to the god Apollo under the title "Dorion Phos'" (Doreian Light) with Grigoris Valtinos and Christianna Matzourani. This was also a political event as Cypriot artists set foot in Turkey for a first time under a special permission of the Prime Minister of Turkey. The show was performed in the ancient Library of Celsus.
On 2009, in collaboration with Marios Frangoulis and the Athens Academy they presented a program for world peace that was performed in the same summer at Herodium and in the winter of 2010 in many cities of USA, starting with Boston, under the title "The Light of Greece". In the summer of 2010, under the spectrum of the same project, the ancient theatre at Pergamon in Turkey opens for the first time with the show "Aeschylus: Prometheus Bound" with the participation of great artists such as Antigone Valakou, Jenny Drivala, Apostolis Totsikas, Anna Koutsaftiki, with the original music of Constantine Psachos, choreography by Vassia Angelidou and the collaboration with the Lyceum of Greek Women the later under the direction of Kostas Karamanos and the "Spiritual march" with the music of Mikis Theodorakis, with George Perris. In 2014 he directed and participated in the play as the main character "John Gabriel Borkman" by Henrick Ibsen. In 2015 he directed the animated film, "Axion esti" by Mikis Theodorakis and Odysseus Elytis.
On 2005 the fourth book was published with his participation titled "Forward Greece's children." On 2005 he presents also the TV series called "Ihni" (Traces) at ERT1 (Hellenic radio TV) in the broadcast Triton hotel 'in collaboration with Jiannis Lignadis at the texts and with the actors Anna Synodinou, Christos Loulis, Memos Begnis,, Dina Ritsou, Anna Koutsaftiki, Olga Tournaki, Christianna Matzourani, Christos Changas, Manos Karatzogiannis , Irene Derebei and others, with the music of Zacharias Spyridakis.
He has often collaborated with newspapers as "Kathimerini" "Imeresia" and "Acropolis" and his articles have been published at "the Political Issues" in the magazine Passworld of Axon Airlines of which he was had the chief-editor.
