Kokkinos' career began with Antamosi (1992), a short film she directed while in her first year of film school, which examines a migrant family's relationship told from the perspective of three generations of women.[2] Coming from a Greek immigrant family herself, Kokkinos's work often deals with themes of identity and family.[5][citation needed]
Her next film was the 50-minute short feature Only the Brave (1994)s.[1] This film follows Alex as she helplessly watches her best friend Vicki fall victim to her self-destructive tendencies.[6]
InHead On (1998), Kokkinos explores the relationship between the city and the individual.[3]Head On follows Greek-Australian teenager Ari as he wanders the streets of Melbourne, struggling with his identity as a gay male and the identity his family wishes to thrust upon him.[7]
Head On divided the Greek community in Australia. Kokkinos said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times].[8] Kokkinos said "what it did is that it opened up a dialogue between younger Greeks and their parents. What the film has done is that it has broken down barriers."[8]
Her next film The Book of Revelation (2006) was adapted form a novel of the same name written by Rupert Thomson. In The Book of Revelation, Daniel leaves his house to buy cigarettes but is abducted by three masked women who then subject him to physical and emotional abuse. The women also repeatedly rape Daniel. The Book of Revelation was nominated by the Australian Film Institute for Best Screenplay.[9]
Blessed (2009) deals with the relationship between mother and child, occurring during the span of 24 hours.[10]Blessed was nominated by the Australian Film Institute for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2009.[11]
Kokkinos is openly lesbian.[12] She realised she was gay at the age of 15. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, she said "I went through a very long process of having to come to terms with that, and that wasn't easy, but I don't think it's easy for anyone". However, she rejects the tag "lesbian filmmaker", saying that she is able to represent all kinds of characters on screen.[8]
^Kokkinos, Ana (10 September 2009), Blessed, retrieved 24 January 2016
^McWilliam, Kelly (2019). "Introduction: Ana Kokkinos". Ana Kokkinos: An Oeuvre of Outsiders. Edinburgh, Scotland, UK: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 1–16. ISBN978-1474431095. Kokkinos has discussed being a lesbian, second-generation Greek immigrant, who grew up in a working-class family in the western suburbs of Melbourne.
