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A Tribute to Mario Athanatos

I have been a film collector since the 1980s when I was a young lad. I remember seeing
an advert in the “Trading Post” which simply said “ super 8 shorts call Marino “ which
I did and raced over to his property in Seaford.
This was my first meeting with Mario - he was welcoming and incredibly friendly-we
chatted about all things from projectors to film stock-then he took me out to see his
amazing home theatre-I was overwhelmed by the size of this room and the massive film
collection he had.
Mario and I became very close friends, he became my mentor, teacher and inspiration
for film appreciation. He taught me what signs to look for when buying film stock, how
to store film properly and which projectors to purchase. He taught me how to set up
scope lenses and how to set up sound via amplifier to maximise the home theatre
experience .

We caught up for lunch and coffees hundreds of
times and he said I was family to him.

As he became ill in his later years, I would often
help him with some home maintenance and
helped him move and store his films. He moved
from Mount Martha to Hastings and I helped him
set up his factory moving over 200 projectors and
countless films -we finally got it all set up and he
sadly passed away before he could enjoy his new
film room at the factory with his 16mm projector
ready to roll its first film.
Tony and Mario
I’ll always remember when I finally set up my
own home theatre he visited me and inspected what I built and he said ”I’m proud of
you”

Mario was arguably the most recognized film collector in Australia and the most
knowledgeable in this medium.

I will miss our fortnightly coffees and chats.

Thank you for education me and helping my understand this hobby to its full potential.
It was a privilege to know you and call you my friend

Vale Uncle Mario

Tony Lewis

REEL DEALS June 2025 5