Director, screenwriter Nikos Triandafyllidis, 49, dies
Nikos Triandafyllidis, the director of one of the last and most treasured documentaries ever made on legendary American singer Screamin’ Jay Hawkings, has died, the ANA-MPA news agency reported on Tuesday. He was 49 years old.
The son of popular Greek stand-up comic Harry Klynn and dancer Harikleia Makri, Triandafyllidis was born in Chicago, USA, in September 1966. He studied sociology and communication at Athens’s Panteion University and film at the London Film School.
He went on to combine his love for film with that for music, directing three acclaimed documentaries, the first on Greek rock sensation Trypes in 1993 – done in black-and-white 8mm film – followed by that on US post-punk act Tuxedomoon in 1998. His most celebrated career achievement was his documentary on Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, who visited Greece for two concerts in Athens shortly before his death in 1999. In the documentary for state broadcaster ERT, Triandafyllidis shows backstage interviews with the legendary artist and also presents rare footage from the early stages of his career.
As a screenwriter, Triandafyllidis collaborated with, among others, Christos Homenides on “Black Milk” about a writer who uses time travel to overcome a creative dry spell. He also worked as a radio producer from 1988 to 1991, with a show on Greece’s first private radio station, Top FM, as well as doing a stint at the BBC World Service.
According to ANA-MPA, the 49-year-old died of cancer.
