The first press conference for Sunday, March 2nd was given by Greek directors Kiriaki Malama and Yorgos Keramidiotis at the Olympion theatre, both of which are contesting in the Greek Competition section of the 5th Documentary Festival – Images of the 21st Century.
The directors spoke about their films and took the chance to express their anti-war opinions. Kiriaki Malama spoke about her film “Albanian Melodrama”, in which Edit Mihali, the most recognized and radiant actress of the Albanian Lyrical Theatre stars:
“The film doesn’t just deal with the personal story of an opera singer, but with the history of Albania itself. My intention was to present this country through a different perspective and not just through poverty or other miserable circumstances that we’ve become accustomed with when dealing with Albanian immigrants. Albania produces its own culture with its own artists and, of course, with an audience that attends these various demonstrations. It doesn’t just produce immigrants. Opera is one example of art that is directly connected to the country’s history and its foreign affairs. In the past it was mainly used as a means of propaganda against the Hotza government, though, without ever having sacrificed any quality in its productions. The audience was comprised not only by the social elite, but by the rest of the public as well”.
Yorgos Keramidiotis spoke about his film “Cemetery Guards” which depicts a day in the lives of two cemetery guards: “The film is part of a series of six films called “A Foreigner in the City”. Each of the films deals with a different topic from the city’s surroundings (unemployment, immigrants etc). This film deals with our relationship with death and the position of dead people in a system that dictates the identity of a person. When examining the course of history from Ancient Greece to modern days we can distinguish a disparity between anonymous and distinguished deaths. For example, in ancient times, women had to give birth to heroes and bury them. In rural Greece we have the anonymous death. Today, though, death is viewed in an entirely different aspect. I wanted my film to have a cinematic narration instead of just resembling an interview”.
When the director was asked whether one can find optimism in the thought of death, he said: “Death is in front of us and we must surpass it to get on with our lives”. The two Greek directors expressed their opinions about the upcoming war between USA and Iraq. Both of them condemned the intentions of both sides while Kiriaki Malama stated that, “this could be the beginning of the destruction of mankind”. Yorgos Keramidiotis -laying down an association to his film- stressed that, “this war is presented like a heroic act by the Americans when, in reality, the only result it will have will be innumerable dead victims”.
