Last Voyage for Theo Angelopoulos

“Angelopoulos can be counted

as one of the few filmmakers

in cinema’s first hundred years

 who compel us to redefine

what we feel cinema is and can be.”
Andrew Horton

World-acclaimed film director, and ambassador of Greek cinema abroad, Theo Angelopoulos died on the 24th January, after being hit by a motorcycle, while filming in Drapetsona, near Pireaus. Winner of several international film awards, Angelopoulos had started shooting his latest film, The Other Sea, earlier this month. His untimely death hit headlines around the globe.
Angelopoulos was born in Athens in 1935. He studied Law at Athens University, and at the beginning of the ‘60s he moved to France where he followed courses in ethnography and studied film at the Institute of Advanced Cinematographic Studies in Paris. Upon returning to Greece, he initially worked as a film critic and in 1970 he completed his first feature film Anaparastassi (Reconstruction).
His next three films make up a trilogy on the history of contemporary Greece: Meres tou ’36 (Days of ’36, 1972), O Thiassos (Travelling Players, 1975) and Oi Kynighoi (The Hunters, 1977), followeed by Megalexandros in 1980.
With these films some of the thematic and stylistic constants of Angelopoulos’ cinema were established – the weight of history, a clinical examination of power, a Brechtian theatricality, wherein the individual has no importance with respect to the group, a rejection of conventional narration in favour of an intentionally broken one, in which stationary cameras and sequence-length shots create an alternative sense of time.
Taxidi sta Kithira (Voyage to Cythera), in 1984, won the Cannes Festival International Critics’ Award for best screenplay, followed by O Melissokomos (The Beekeeper), in 1986, starring Marcello Mastroianni. With Topio stin Omichli (Landscape in the Mist) in 1988 he won the Silver Lion at the Venice Mostra. 
His filmography in the 90s included To meteoro vima tou pelargou (The Suspended Step of the Stork, 1991), followed by To vlemma toy Odyssea (Ulysses’ Gaze, 1995), starring Harvey Keitel – which won the Grand Jury Prize and the International Critics’ Prize at Cannes Festival. 
Then in 1998, he won the Cannes Palme D’Or prize for Mia eoniotita kai mia mera (Eternity and a Day) with Bruno Ganz. In 2003, he began another trilogy with To livadi pou dakryzi (The Wheeping Meadow) followed by H skoni tou chronou (Dust of Time, 2009). The film The Other Sea that he was currently shooting was to complete the trilogy.
(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)

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Eminent Greek Authors Digitised

Tributes in the form of cultural events and publications prepared over the last few years by the National Book Centre to commemorate birth or death anniversaries of eminent Greek writers now take a permanent place in the Centre’s digital archive.

Authors such as Stratis Tsirkas and M. Karagatsis, as well as poets like Nikos Kavvadias have their own website in the progressively increasing Book Centre’s electronic archive of Modern Greek literature. The latest addition bears the name of poet Yiannis Ritsos, whose 100-year birth anniversary was observed in 2009.
National Book Center: Modern Authors Archives in Greek

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)

Melina Mercouri: A tribute to the “last Greek Goddess”

Sixteen years have passed since Melina Mercouri, one of the great women of Greece, died on March 6, 1994. On the 16^th anniversary of her death, as well as of International Women’s Day (March 8), the Eugenides Foundation is hosting an exhibition-tribute to the late, multifaceted actress and politician, emphasizing her relationship to education and culture. 
Internationally acclaimed actress, singer and politician, Melina was characterized by many as the epitome of womanhood, as well as the “last Greek Goddess.”
An ardent supporter of the repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum, Melina, as minister of Culture, openly claimed them and devoted herself to this goal.
The exhibition titled “Melina-Education-Culture” will run from March 9 to April 8. 
Melina Mercouri Foundation: www.melinamercourifoundation.org.gr
Greek News Agenda: Melina Mercouri: “Culture is Greece’s heavy industry”

Ο “Χορός θανάτου” του Στρίντμπεργκ σε θέατρο της Αθήνας

 

Ένας αινιγματικός χορός για τρεις από την ομάδα “Υστερόγραφο”
Στις 14 Ιανουαρίου ξεκίνησε παραστάσεις ο «Χορός Θανάτου» του Αυγούστου Στρίντμπεργκ από τη θεατρική ομάδα Υστερόγραφο στο Studio Μαυρομιχαλή.
Ο Έντγκαρ και η Άλις ζουν σε ένα απομονωμένο νησί του Σουηδικού αρχιπελάγους.  Εκείνος είναι λοχαγός, εκείνη ήταν ηθοποιός αλλά τα έχει παρατήσει.  Πλησιάζει η 25η επέτειος των γάμων τους και εκείνοι ασφυκτιούν μέσα στο μικρόκοσμό τους.  Δεν κάνουν παρέα με άλλους ανθρώπους στο νησί, έχουν στείλει τα παιδιά τους στην πόλη για να σπουδάσουν και με κάθε τρόπο πληγώνουν ο ένας τον άλλο, κάτι που δεν εμπεριέχει απαραίτητα κακία, είναι στοιχείο της σχέσης τους.
Η έλευση του Κουρτ, εξαδέλφου της Άλις, στο νησί θα περιπλέξει την κατάσταση.  Ο Κουρτ έχει έρθει να αναλάβει προϊστάμενος του λοιμοκαθαρτηρίου.  Τους τρεις τους, τους δένει ένα κοινό παρελθόν και πιθανότατα διάφορα μυστικά, λιγότερο ή περισσότερο ένοχα. Ο Κουρτ θα ενταχθεί για στο μικρόκοσμο του ζευγαριού.  Οι καταστάσεις θα οδηγήσουν και τους τρεις σε ακραίες επιλογές.  Η αλήθεια και το ψέμα, ο θάνατος και η ζωή, αρχίζουν να μπερδεύονται.  Οι ισορροπίες θα ανατραπούν, ωστόσο λίγα πράγματα θα αλλάξουν. Σημείωμα σκηνοθέτη
Ο Έντγκαρ και η Άλις.  Ένα ζευγάρι σε ένα απομονωμένο νησί, χωρίς φίλους και κοινωνικές επαφές.  Μοιάζουν να αλληλοσπαράσσονται μέρα-νύχτα.
Ο Κουρτ. Ο ξάδελφος, και αργότερα –ή μήπως και παλαιότερα;– ο εραστής της Άλις.  Μοιάζει άλλοτε για θύμα τους και άλλοτε για εισβολέας στη ζωή τους.
Διαβάζοντας το έργο του Στρίντμπεργκ η αίσθηση που είχα είναι ότι ο συγγραφέας δε θέλει λύσεις.  Αν τις ήθελε θα τις έδινε.
Ένας χορός για τρεις, αινιγματικός, σε μια παράσταση που επίσης δε θέλει να λύσει τα αινίγματα, αλλά να τα προβάλλει.  Η προσπάθειά μας ήταν να βρούμε τους τρόπους με τους οποίους ο συγγραφέας προβάλλει αυτά ακριβώς τα αινίγματα και να τους αναδείξουμε.
Μετάφραση: Μίνως Βολανάκης
Σκηνοθεσία: Γιώργος Γιανναράκος
Σκηνικά – Κοστούμια: Νίκη Πέρδικα
Μουσική: Κώστας Μαντζώρος
Χορογραφία: Στέλλα Κρούσκα
Φωτισμοί-φωτογραφίες: Αντώνης Συμεωνάκης
Βοηθός σκηνοθέτη: Στέφανος Μονδέλος
Παίζουν οι ηθοποιοί:  Κωνσταντίνος Χατζούδης , Αγγελική Λεμονή,  Σπύρος Ζουπάνος
(Πηγή: ElCulture.gr)

Greek Prime Minister Confers with State Leadership

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  Following further acts of vandalism by small groups, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis met  with President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias early morning yesterday, and briefed him on the latest upheaval triggered by the loss of the 15 year-old pupil. Following their meeting, the premier held  successive meetings with all leaders of the opposition parties who vehemently condemned the acts of violence perpetrated in the echo of the events. Yesterday, Minister of Interior Pavlopoulos clarified that there is no need for emergency measures to be taken and that law enforcement is being carried out through standard procedure. He further stressed that the government will not tolerate the manipulation of the lost adolescent’s memory and its use as an excuse for delinquency.  Secretary General of Information, Panos Livadas was invited yesterday to participate in BBC World Radio’s Newshour, during which, he reiterated the Prime Minister’s commitment on behalf of the government to indemnify the people whose property was destroyed or damaged. He further stressed that the government is determined to safeguard the right to freedom of expression in a peaceful way, without allowing minorities to infiltrate, creating violent unrest. 

Foreign Minister Bakoyannis sent Condolences over Bronislaw Geremek Death

(ATHENS NEWS AGENCY) Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis on Wednesday sent a message of condolences to her Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski, expressing her deepest condolences over the death of Εurodeputy and former foreign minister Bronislaw Geremek. In a message, Bakoyannis also highlights the “leading role of Bronislaw Geremek in Poland’s political life as well as his contribution to his country’s NATO entry.”   Geremek, 76, a former foreign minister of Poland who helped the Solidarity trade union movement lead the nation’s transformation from communism to democracy, died on Sunday in a car accident near the city of Wielkopolska. (MORE PHOTOS)