Duce Narrates

The first Greek animated film was shot by the cartoonist Stamatis Polenakis 19081997 with the title The Duce tells The sevenminute MickeyMousestyle film as its creator mentions in the credits satirizes the Italian invasion of Greece on October 28 1940 and especially Mussolini who recounts his exploits but reality constantly contradicts him Stamatis Polenakis one of the leading Greek cartoonists of the 20th century and a pioneer of animation in our country began drawing the sketches for the film in 1942 in his hometown Sifnos where he had taken refuge during the Occupation He worked under the boot of the Italian conqueror risking arrest The film was lost during the Civil War and it was not until 1980 that a negative was found and restored