ERT2 broadcasts the restored copy of the film "The City Tramps of Athens" by Dimitris Gaziadis, based on the operetta of the same name by Nikos Hatziapostolou and Giannis Prineas (1921).

"The City Tramps of Athens" by Dimitris Gaziadis, with music by Nikos Hatziapostolou, is the first "sound and music" Greek film (1930), which was considered lost for decades. The positive copy was found four years ago at the French Film Library, a particularly significant event as it is the first Greek film accompanied by synchronized recording of music and songs.

The restoration of the image was carried out by the Greek Film Archive, in collaboration with Selin Rouyvou of La Cinémathèque Française, at the L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in Bologna from this unique nitrate celluloid copy with French intertitles. The reconstruction of the music accompanying the film was undertaken by the Greek Music Center.

Music adaptation and arrangement: Giannis Tselikas.

Musicological research: Giannis Sambrovalakis.

This historical film, a valuable document of Athens in the 1930s, "comes to life" again under the auspices of Kostas Gavras, through the collaboration of the Greek Film Archive, La Cinémathèque Française, and the National Opera.

The restoration was made possible by a donation from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

The film, starring legendary figures of Greek operetta, such as Petros Kyriakos, Mary Sagnou, Petros Epirotakis, Giannis Prineas, and others, is an important, hitherto lost link in the history of early Greek cinema.

The main strength of this filmed operetta lies in its high aesthetics of cinematography, which excellently captures some of the most important landmarks of Athens and its surroundings, depicting daily life in 1930 in Plaka, Psyrri, the market, Thissio, Gazi, Chautheia, Syntagma Square, Omonia, Stadiou Street, and Panepistimiou Street, as well as the Tatoi Palace.

The photographic material is from Stathis Arfanis's archive.