History may have overlooked her contribution, but Tzella Finos, his partner for decades Kissed Finou, who first envisioned the idea of a Greek cinema, was the undisputed queen of the first film production company founded in our country.
And if now in the park of the Larissa Station, the bust of Fino will stand as a tribute to the man who achieved what was considered impossible, it is more than certain that none of this would have happened if it were not for the charismatic Jella.
Let us recall that the unveiling of the bust, created by the sculptor Vangelis Ilias with funding from the Ministry of Culture, took place on Thursday, April 25, by the Minister of Culture Lina Mendonis and the Mayor of Athens Haris Doukas.
The Society of Greek Directors, through its president Xari Papadopoulos, in its announcement stated, among other things: “Filopoimin Finos is the model of a Greece that struggles in adverse and difficult conditions and manages to win, highlighting the greatness of this place and this people.”
Helper and supporter of Fino from his first steps to the end of his life was his beloved Zella. And if the glamorous protagonists of the “Golden Age” of Greek cinema, as we call it, vigorously claimed the first place in the company, Zella had it, without even asking for it, because she was in fact always standing next to the visionary producer, even as everything crumbled around them, reminding him of his mission and goal.
Who was Zella Finou, the queen of the first Greek film company
Zella Vanakou Finou was born in 1915 in Athens and grew up in an urban family. Her singing talent was evident from a very early age, which is why as a student she took voice lessons at the Athens Conservatory. Soon, Attic discovered her and Zella began to appear in his infamous “Mantra”.
In 1936, already having a successful career as a singer, she met Fino. With her incredible voice, her sensual interpretation and her beauty, she had already conquered the Athenian audience. In fact, Zella had an exclusive contract with “Odeon Parlophone” and her records became popular, while together with her sister and Vera Zavicianou they were part of the “Trio Star”.
The love of Zella and Fino was lightning fast. He saw her for the first time on stage and was enchanted. After two years of a stormy relationship, due to various events that had nothing to do with how they felt about each other, they were led to a few months of separation, only to reunite and stay together until the end. In fact, Xella helped Philopoimena to restore his relations with his father.
In 1939, Finos and his associates founded the film company “Hellenic Film Studios” (EKS) in Kalamaki, with the aim of filming the film “Song of Separation”. Then, Zella decided to stop her artistic performances and devote herself fully to her husband and his vision.
From doing make-up duties, to testing his audio equipment together with her voice, Zella did everything in her power to help her lover. Unfortunately the film – which was the first modern talkie, edited in Greek laboratories – failed at the box office and Finos was very disappointed. But Zella did not give up.
When the Second World War started, Finos together with some friends formed a newsreel crew on the Albanian Front. But when the German Nazis came to Greece, they did not take long to order the films from the Front and destroy the entire studio in Kalamaki. But even this tragic event did not break the couple.
In 1942, in the midst of hunger and misery, Filopoimin and Xella rented a building on Stournara Street, which was to become their “home”. The legendary and timeless brand of Finos Film was born there. Although their relationship was already ten years old, they did not decide to get married, because they were always busy and did not have time for weddings and receptions.
Zella, tireless all day, sometimes made improvised soundproofing with yellow flannel, sometimes whitewashed the rooms or fixed the tiles, sometimes operated the projection machine – with charcoal then – or dried the spread positives, and sometimes cooked with whatever she could find procured, to feed the entire crew.
Thus, the first official film of Finos Film, entitled “The Voice of the Heart”, was created with primitive tools and little means, which was a huge success. Zella, holding Philopoimena’s hand, walked after the premiere among the excited crowd, knowing that from that day on their lives would be dedicated to cinema.
Alekos Sakellarios was finally the one who brought a priest to the company’s offices, and united them with the bonds of marriage almost by force. Even at that moment, however, Finos, pressed by obligations, said to the priest between serious and joking: “It’s over, papa, because we have work to do.”
In the winter of 1944 and while Finos Film was filming its second film (“The Villa with Water Lilies”), the Germans arrested Philopoimenas and his father. Zella did not budge even then: defying the danger, she continued to communicate with him with illicit notes. In these she informed him about the cinematographic events, which she watched incessantly.
Four months later, Filopoimin was released. But his father was executed. The trauma of the loss was great, but Zella stood like a rock by her husband. Of course, no opinion but Zella’s mattered more to him. And he was right, for this perceptive creature rarely failed in his predictions.
No woman of all those who passed through his sets moved Fino as much as Zella. That’s why he was never unfaithful to her, while Zella in turn offered him security and peace. It is said that every noon she called the company’s concierge to ask the exact time her husband left, so that when he got home, his food would be at the right temperature.
The years passed, Finos managed to become the “Father of Greek Cinema”, but the couple continued to live frugally, avoiding worldly things and luxuries. After all, the two had a grandiose plan to support, to which they dedicated themselves with all their souls.
What always impressed those who knew them was that Zella gave up her career voluntarily, and not because a powerful husband demanded it, without ever asking him to help her professionally, by putting her in a production for example.
When in the mid-60s, Finos put forward the ultra-modern studios in Spata, a series of setbacks and especially the decline of cinema, which was increasingly losing ground to television, began to stress him, until in 1969 he was diagnosed with cancer . The studios were completed in 1970 and for six years Finos created, although he knew that the end would not be long.
But Fino’s greatest anxiety was not death, but not to leave his beloved Zella in debt. Thus, in 1974 they bought a small apartment on Evelpidon Street, in which they lived together until January 1977. Towards the end of his life, Finos began to give some advice to Zella, which she reverently recorded.
Finos and Zella never had children by choice—their children were their films and their collaborators: actors, directors and technicians. A favorite friend of both was Aliki Vougiouklaki, whose son they baptized, while they had a special weakness for the orphan Zoe Laskaris, whom they wanted to adopt, and for the director of photography Nikos Kavoukidis.
After Fino’s death, Zella found herself in dire financial straits, which she faced with absolute dignity.
In fact, because of the debts, he was thinking of not accepting the inheritance and giving the film rights to the state. Thanks to the intervention of Dimitris Horn, the matter was fortunately settled. A few years later, with the advent of private television, which systematically showed Finos Film films, Tzella managed, with George Tsagarakis as her right-hand man, to get Finos Film back on its feet and running, which mainly dealt with videotapes, which was fashionable at the time.
Now, devastated Zella had decided to stay away from the world. But he never publicly voiced any complaints, never denied inaccuracies that were published from time to time, and refused all requests from reputable journalists to give an interview. At the same time, she stood by people who needed her and helped families generously, without ever making her works public.
During the last years of her life, Zella Finou suffered from dementia. Paradoxically, the disease made her happy, since she often had the illusion that she was talking to her beloved Fino, that she was walking around the studios protecting him, or that at night she always fell asleep in his arms.
Zella Finou passed away on August 29, 2010, full days old, at the age of 99 and was buried in the First Cemetery next to her beloved “Fifi”. The news of her death marked the definitive end of an era of old Greek cinema.
