By Maro Angelopoulou
Some artists seem inseparable from the cities they inhabit. For Alexandros Voulgaris — better known as The Boy — Athens is not simply a backdrop but a living presence, a restless emotional landscape that runs through his music and films. Born in Athens in 1981, Voulgaris has built a singular artistic universe where cinema, songwriting and poetry constantly intersect.
Often described as a creative musician and urban poet, The Boy has spent much of his career exploring the atmosphere of the contemporary city. His songs — sometimes devotional, sometimes mournful — revolve around Athens: its apartments, its quiet nights, its fragile intimacies and its emotional contradictions. Through both music and film he captures characters suspended between tenderness and alienation, reflecting the subtle moral and emotional crises of modern urban life.
Alongside his prolific musical work, Voulgaris has directed several feature films including Klais?, Roz, Higuita, Nima, Winona and Gymnastirio, works that have participated presented and won awards at festivals in Greece and abroad. His filmmaking often moves freely between genres, blending melodrama, musical elements, experimental storytelling, and moments of dark humor.
As a musician The Boy has released more than 25 albums – among them Please Make Me Dance, Koustoumaki, Iliotherapeia, Etoimoi, Paradouleftra, Antilope and Audrey – and has also composed music for film and theatre. He has appeared as an actor in cinema and theatre, directed music videos and in recent years teaches film at acting schools.
Τhe Boy’s has a new movie They Come Out of Margo. After its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the movie, starring Sofia Kokkali, arrives in Athens for a series of exclusive screenings at Astor Cinema starting March 19. The screenings will feature Q&A sessions, live performances, and DJ sets, turning the film’s run into a small cinematic event in the heart of the city.
Here is a taste of from the film’s soundtrack here
Moving fluidly between genres, the film unfolds as a tender horror story, a fractured melodrama and, at times, a peculiar urban musical set within the apartments of downtown Athens. At its center is Margo, a once-celebrated songwriter who now lives in isolation in her apartment. When she decides to organize a party for her 40th birthday, the night slowly opens the door to a new and uncertain chapter in her life.
Across all these forms, The Boy continues to map the fragile emotional geography of Athens.
You can contact the artist at
