The Greek crisis and its many facets are at the forefront of this year’s versatile local documentary production: politics, the Greek financial crash, unemployment, demonstrations, immigration, environmental consequences and the relationship of the citizen to the damaged urban landscape are only some of the issues explored in approximately 75 Greek films to be screened during the 14th TDF, including both features and shorts.
Included in the International Program as well as the Greek Panorama and Spotlight sections, these films record social realities that constantly change and evolve. In addition, local filmmakers expand their vision outside Greece, by travelling the world in search of fascinating subjects: shooting films from Italy to Palestine and from Ghana to Argentina, Greek documentarians are, more than ever, a part of the global documentary community.
Spotlights
As previously announced, the spotlight on Angelos Abazoglou presents the body of work of a Diaspora filmmaker who focuses on cultural and historical relations between Mediterranean countries, and the way these relations often transcend geographical boundaries. In addition, a spotlight on the TV show Docville acquaints us with daily life in various Greek cities today, while the collection of films entitled Meeting with Remarkable People, all directed by Menelaos Karamaghiolis, focuses on remarkable personages from the arts and sciences, both in Greece and abroad.
Highlights
On the much-discussed Greek crisis, some films shed lights, such as Krisis by Nikos Katsaounis and Nina Maria Paschalidou, 155 SOLD by Yiorgos Panteleakis, Children of the Riots by Christos Georgiou, and Oligarchy by journalist Stelios Kouloglou, which explores the crisis’ birth and evolution from a global perspective. The reality of immigration in the country can be seen in Evros, the Other Side by Chronis Pehlivanidis and Waiting for the Barbarians by Kostas Stamatopoulos, while Greektown, New England by Nikos Panoutsopoulos journeys through the Greek-American communities of New England, investigating themes of identity, assimilation and heritage.
Documentaries that focus on the environment such as Toxic Crisis by Omiros Evangelinos and Ecological Diaries: A Silent Sea by Yiannis Misouridis explore pressing issues as varied as waste disposal and its mishandling, to nutritional habits in the modern world.
History, collective memory and individuals that personify the ideal of the Greek spirit are always themes at the heart of Greek documentary production: Fofo Terzidou’s By-standing and Standing-by is the story of Greek Jews who survived the Holocaust and Sharing an Island by Danae Stylianou brings together six young Cypriots from the two sides of the island and offers them a chance to debate history.
Everyday heroes are presented in Metaxa, Listening to Time by Stavros Psyllakis, whose protagonists are the doctors of the Metaxa oncology clinic, and in The Blind Fisherman by Stratis Vogiatzis and Thekla Malamou and My Name is Stelios by Yiannis Kaspiris, about ordinary people overcoming extraordinary difficulties.
(Source:http://tdf.filmfestival.gr/media releases)
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