Maria Chatzi is a multi-award winning Greek film and television director. She has been active in the industry since 1997, writing and directing for both film and television.
Chatzi was born in Athens, Greece in 1972. She studied at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens where she received a degree in Film and Television Studies. She then went on to study directing at the renowned Greek Film Academy.
Chatzi has been involved in multiple productions since the late 1990s. She directed her first feature film, "The Wind of Heaven", in 2001 which was awarded the Best Greek Film Award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival. Since then, she has directed many other films including "The Town of the Cats" (2005), "The Little Things of Life" (2007) and "One Day in August" (2009).
Chatzi has also directed several television series. In 2003 she directed the series "The Journey". Her other television credits include "Dreams of a Somnambulist" (2009), "The Last of the Romantics" (2012) and the popular series "Island Tales" (2014).
Chatzi has been the recipient of multiple awards throughout her career. She was named Best Director at the Greek Film Festival in 2002 for her work on "The Wind of Heaven". In 2006 she won the Best Director Award at the Drama Festival for her work on "The Town of the Cats". In 2009, she was the recipient of the Greek Film Academy's Best Director Award for "One Day in August".
In addition to her work in film and television, Chatzi has also been active in teaching. She has been a professor of Film and Television Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens since 2005. She has also been a visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles since 2011.
Chatzi continues to be a highly respected figure in the Greek film industry. She is an accomplished director with a vast body of work that has earned her numerous awards and accolades. She is an inspiring figure for young filmmakers in Greece and around the world.
