Cinema Museum of Thessaloniki
The Cinema Museum of Thessaloniki is a cultural institution dedicated to preserving and presenting the history of cinema in Greece
It is located in Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, and was founded in 1995 following a decision by the organization responsible for Thessaloniki’s role as the European Capital of Culture in 1997. Today, it operates as part of the Thessaloniki Film Festival and is housed in Warehouse 1, a historic building on the city’s old waterfront near Aristotelous Square.
The museum’s main mission is to collect, preserve, and exhibit objects and archival material related to the history and development of cinema in Greece. Its foundation became possible after the acquisition of the significant cinematography collection of Nikos Bililis, a Thessaloniki-based cinematographer.
The museum’s collection includes a wide variety of cinema-related artefacts. These range from film equipment such as cameras, projectors, lenses, editing and subtitling machines, to film development tools and other technical devices. It also preserves celluloid materials including films and newsreels, thousands of photographs from Greek cinema productions, large hand-made film posters, as well as music recordings from film soundtracks released before 1995 on LPs and CDs. In addition, the museum maintains an extensive cinema archive.
The archive provides researchers and visitors with valuable information about Greek cinema, including film festivals, screenings in Greek cinemas, and biographical details of directors, actors, and other professionals. Documentation covering the period from 1985 onwards is already available, while research for the earlier period from 1926 to 1985 is nearing completion.
The museum also organises guided tours and film screenings in a specially designed viewing room, allowing visitors to experience excerpts from classic films and gain a deeper understanding of the evolution of Greek cinema.
