PRESS CONFERENCE
SHARING AN ISLAND / 1 0 0 (173 ALEXANDRAS AVE., ATHENS) / HEROES OF THE FLICKS / ΕXPROPRIATION
A Press Conference was held on Tuesday, March 13, 2012, as part of the 14th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. Present were directors Danae Stylianou (Sharing An Island), Gerasimos Rigas (100 (173 Alexandras Ave., Athens), Panayotis Koundouras (Heroes of the Flicks) and Manos Papadakis (Expropriation), whose films are participating in this edition’s International Program.
Dane Stylianou spoke about her film Sharing an Island, which places three Greek and three Turkish Cypriots, none of whom know each other, together in one house for five days. "One could say that it actually looks like an experiment. The main characters are not actors but were chosen through casting. We invited young people aged 20-30 years to tell us their views about resolving the issue of Cyprus, as well as their experiences with the other community. After 150 interviews, we settled on these six involved in the film", the director explained. And she added: "We tried to have our characters be representative of average people on either side of the dividing line, who don’t belong to any political party and hadn’t had any previous experience with people from the other community. One could say that this was an experimental co-existence, an experimental journey along the divide of Cyprus". Regarding her characters living together, she noted: "I think they freed their hearts and minds in order to see another aspect of the truth they hadn’t known about. After their disagreements about History, they began finding common ground on other issues”. She then said: “I feel that the film contributes to the revelation of the truth. In the scene where the guys meet the Imam, they become like mirrors for each other and they understand the background that has caused the problems and that essentially there is no other option than co-existence. You can see what the average young person thinks through the film without having to go to the occupied territory yourself”.
Gerasimos Rigas spoke about his film 100 (173 Alexandras Ave., Athens). The film records daily reality at a Police Emergency Center. "I am interested in films about everyday life in small spaces" said the director, and then referred to the police as an institution. "There is a negative predisposition toward the police and suspicion of the state in general, justifiably so in my opinion. But going to the Police Emergency Center as a director I had to get rid of all stereotypes and film the subject honestly. Theoretically, the role of the police and the state is to protect the weak, but unfortunately I believe that in Greece it really protects the powerful. I believe the police themselves must answer the ''what is the role of the police?'' Is it crime prevention, recording crime, solving crime? I think that the way life is these days in Athens, the police deal more with recording and solving, so basically everyone is on his own in this city, it is like a jungle where everyone struggles to survive”. As to choosing the phone calls in the film, the director commented that it was not a conscious choice, as is reality at the emergency center. Closing, he spoke about the film’s production process. "We received permission easily, but we faced some problems while filming. Depending on what was going on, we were often told to stop shooting. This is very difficult for this type of documentary. In spite of this, I believe we succeeded in showing what goes on at the Center, and to paint an honest portrait of Athens”.
Panayotis Koundouras, in his film Heroes of the Flicks focuses on cinema projectionists. “The projectionists have become a part of my daily life. Now when I go to the movies I go to the projection booth, close to them. I have come to love them and it is an honor for me to finally be able to call them friends. We were with them for a year, and our camera revealed things we would never have imagined. In the projection booths, films are not screened from DVDs, or using digital media, as will probably happen in the future, which is why this particular work requires art, competence and a great deal of love for cinema”, the director noted. Speaking about the Olympion’s projectionist he said: “Our getting to know Mr. Manolis Rizos played an important role. He opened his projection booth door to us, as well as the door to his heart, he welcomed us and shared his experiences with us. We owe him a great deal”. Regarding the separation of projectionists into two categories, those working in traditional cinemas and those working in multiplexes, Mr. Koundouras stressed: “They talk about films and multiplexes, but our film is exclusively dedicated to the projectionists of traditional cinemas, who have left their mark on the life of the city and are an inseparable part of it. It is no accident that Thessaloniki had a great number of traditional cinemas, with over 500 projectionists”. Finally, regarding the future of the profession of projectionist, he said: “Digital media have entered our lives and it’s possible that the profession will become extinct, and rather soon. Personally I find this depressing. These people love their work and the films, they have travelled, learned many things, they grew up in the cinemas, their personalities, mores and characters were shaped by the films”.
Manos Papadakis spoke about his environmental film Expropriation. It deals with the forceful expropriation of land in Western Macedonia where DEI (the electrical company) has its mines. “The film explores the consequences of the production of electricity in Greece, especially in the hydroelectric center of Western Macedonia. A huge catastrophe is going on there. We penetrated deeply with our camera; I personally saw what it means to forget to turn off the lights and to waste electricity. This is a domino of problems, which result in throwing people out of their homes, for people to be dying of cancer, and for others to get a greater appetite for profit. DEI belongs to shareholders to some extent, who have every reason to get us to consume as much as possible”, the director revealed. In answer to the question of whether there are any doable, simple solutions to the problem, Mr. Papadakis said: “If we replaced all the light bulbs in all the houses in Greece, tomorrow we would save a unit of 350 megawatts. The size of the destruction caused by such a unit of heavy technology is very large, as is the pollution it also produces. If every one of us took responsibility, the electrical production systems we already have would be enough. We don’t need huge solar farms or wind farms; we need small local systems, better management and distribution, and some thrift on our part.” Speaking about the difficulties in approaching his subject he said: “We had no problems approaching the people we wanted to, but moving through the area was difficult because it is private property and belongs to DEI, so there were barriers and private security making it difficult to approach”.
