World renowned Greek director Theo Angelopoulos has died.

Award winning Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos has been killed in a road accident in Athens.

The 76-year-old sustained serious head injuries after he was hit by a motorcycle while crossing a road in the Greek capital.

The motorcyclist, an off duty police officer, was also injured in the collision.

The director was hard at work on his latest film “The Other Sea” when he died.

Born in Athens in 1935 his career spanned some 40 years he won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for “Ulysees’ Gaze” in 1995 and three years later picked up the Palme d ‘Or for “Eternity and a Day.”

His themes in the main dealt with Greece’s recent history exile, immigration and war, he said last year that he wanted the Greek financial crisis to be the theme of his next movie.

Angelopoulos’ films featured some of cinema’s great actors, including Marcello Mastroianni, Harvey Keitel, Willem Dafoe, Bruno Ganz and Jeanne Moreau. His films are deliberately paced, visually rich and demanding. You either succumb to their dream-like atmosphere filled with symbolism and long stretches of silence or go mad trying. I’ve always struggled with his films but have been greatly rewarded for my patience.

Below is Ulysses’ Gaze in its entirety. Enjoy the journey.

Winner of the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, this drama centers on the Balkan conflict as viewed through the eyes of a filmmaker named A (Harvey Keitel). Director Theo Angelopoulos wrote the screenplay, drawing from personal experiences. A is a Greek émigré director who returns to his homeland after 35 years in the U.S., ostensibly to screen his latest film, which is so controversial that it attracts religious protests. In fact, A’s real purpose is to search for three reels of undeveloped film that may be the first ever shot by pioneer Balkan filmmakers the Manakis brothers, who documented simple circa-1900 peasant life. A’s Homeric journey includes flashbacks into past historical events. He travels by taxi to Albania, where he enlists the help of a film archivist (Maia Morgenstern, who plays all four female roles). She joins him on a train ride to Bucharest, Romania. An extensive flashback chronicles A’s childhood under Communism in Bucharest. His next stop is Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, where he is directed to Sarajevo. Angelopoulos mixes scenes shot during the actual Balkan war with historic re-enactments and dreamscapes to examine the role of the artist in political upheaval. ~ Michael Betzold

After pressing the start button (the arrow), click on the “CC” button (framed in red) to choose English, Spanish or Turkish subtitles.