19th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
3-12 March, 2017
DIRECTORS’ QUOTES OF THE DAY
3-12 March, 2017
DIRECTORS’ QUOTES OF THE DAY
The Greek and foreign directors who attend this year’s edition talk about their films which are screened today at the 19th TDF:
Deltas, Back to the Shores by Charlie Petersmann
“To me any displacement takes the homeland and the story one leaves behind with it. The main issue of my film was therefore not just to question and film the act of leaving and its circumstances, but mostly how does one deal with what he left behind and the story that comes with him/her. The constant doubts and/or hopes that go towards the future life, almost always followed by the homeland calling. This duality is what displacement is about to me”.
Every Single Day by Spyros Gerousis
“Hip hop is by far the most folk music of our times, because it stems from the grassroots and can thus convey revolutionary messages, but it can also become some kind of a record of today's socio-political situation; a contemporary recording carried out under the 'street' codes. These codes may wink at the insiders but can also serve as a critical or even sarcastic reflection of our times”.
Samuel in the Clouds by Pieter Van Eecke
“Denying the changes is often the easiest way and maybe also an all too human reaction. In my film, I tried to understand the impact of the changes on one person, the indigenous man Samuel who saw his holy glacier melt away. Suffering in the midst of this disaster, his deep and tender relation with the earth keeps hope alive”.
The Extra Mile by Victoria Vellopoulou
“The documentary is about the internal, psychological need of a man to break his limits, and overcome the obstacles set by society or third parties. The most important, however, is that this fight to exceed the ordinary is done with the purpose to send a crucial message to the world, since the superhuman effort of Lefteris Paraskevas is dedicated to people with physical and mental problems, which makes it even more important”.
The Graduation by Claire Simon
“Each school that has such a reputation, like La Femis, is anyhow a very competitive environment. I constantly felt that I am entering a temple of cinema, with gods, saints and priests... Few of these gods or saints are documentary filmmakers, which gives you anonymity and space to make your film in the selection process. I think that people who agreed to appear in my film were so immersed in this process probably thought that to be part of the film was something equally important”.
Zaatari Djinn by Catherine Van Campen
“The reason to focus on children and not adults is that children experience life under difficult circumstances, away from home, very different than adults. For example, adults suffer from nostalgia, where kids somehow seem to live in the moment, trying to discover new thing, new possibilities, and they re-create their new world in a very different way than adults, which also made it easier to avoid the cliches of a refugee-camp”.
