Biography

Lila Kourkoulakou (Greek: Λίλα Κουρκουλάκου, 1936 - 2015) was a pioneering Greek director, screenwriter and producer, known for her film The Island of Silence (1958). She studied cinema and literature in Rome (Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia), where she was influenced by Italian neorealism. She was the first female director in the world to participate in an international film festival (Venice Film Festival, 1958) with the film The Island of Silence. Her film about Spinalonga is considered to have contributed decisively to raising public awareness and the final closure of the island's leper colony. Some of her films is The Island of Silence (1958), At the Door of Hell (1960), Eleftherios Venizelos (1966), Cyprus, the Great Crossroads (1979) and The Exodus from Messolonghi (1979).