Nikos Panayotopoulos was born on November 6, 1941, in Mytilene, Greece. He studied film making in Athens and started his career as an assistant director in Greek and foreign productions.

In 1960-1973 he lived in Paris where he attended film courses at the filmology institute of Sorbonne. In 1973 he returned to Athens. His first film The Color of Iris (1974) ("The Colours of Iris") was the most unexpected creation of the New Greek Cinema.