Blog

REVIEW: Matangi /Maya /M.I.A.

by Polyxeni Sotirchou Eccentric, bold, constantly evolving and constantly revolting, multi-faceted and impulsive Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam is the subject-matter of this new documentary by her childhood friend Steve Loveridge. When it comes to iconoclast Maya, stage name M.I.A., we know everything and nothing. Born in the suburbs of London, she was marked for life by her Sri-Lankan origins and her immigrant status, constantly fighting against the hostile urban surroundings she found herself living in. A serial forger and inventor of her ...

IN THEATRES NOW: The Last Partisan

Our latest production, The Last Partisan by Andreas Hadjipateras, is out in Greek cinema starting 25/10, check it out! An integral part of Greek folklore, Manolis Glezos is best known as the man who tore the swastika flag from the Acropolis during the Nazi invasion in 1941. Since then he has lived a mercurial existence; often caught between moments of glory and controversy as he continued to battle for his ideals. With the country knee-deep in a crushing financial crisis, Glezos is back in the limelight, elected as the oldest member of the ...

REVIEW: The Price of Everything

by Polyxeni Sotirchou According to world history, art has always served the interests of the plutocracy in a attempt to satisfy its bottomless hunger for culture. Yet, director Nathaniel Kahn ("My Architect") goes a little bit deeper in his latest documentary, "The Price of Everything". He places contemporary art in the heart of capitalism and reintroduces the whole thing in purely commercial terms. In the post-modern times we're living in, amidst stock market madness, a work of art is now considered to be a brand in its own right! So what ...

REVIEW: Obscuro Barroco

by George Paschos In a society that's sinking, transformation is the only way forward. "Obscuro Barroco", the latest documentary by director/visual artist Evangelia Kranioti, a natural continuation of her debut film "Exotica, Erotica, Etc." and her exploration of human desire, is all about the essence of transformation, opting for an impressionistic depiction of Rio de Janeiro. The city engulfs two extremes, Apollonian light and Dionysian darkness, just like ancient Greek tragedy. These two extremes are what what Luana Muniz chooses to ...

The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival Gateway to the Oscars

by George Paschos Great news for Greek documentary filmmakers! The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival recently announced that the Golden Alexander winner (the fest's top honour) will be automatically eligible for Oscar consideration in the Documentary Feature category, standing a chance to win a nomination and - who knows? - even the highly coveted statuette! More specifically, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences established a Documentary Feature Qualifying Festival List that comprises of 28 leading festivals around the world. ...

REVIEW: Wild Wild Country

by Yorgos Paschos Emile Durkheim once wrote that society equals God, which pretty much sums up "Wild Wild Country", an original Netflix documentary series that drags up one of the darkest moments in American history. Directed by Chapman and Maclain Way, it is divided in six captivating episodes that investigate the case of new age cult Rajneeshism, whose spiritual leader was none other than Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, later known as Osho. Using the early years as a springboard, we quickly learn that Bhagwan garnered influence for his ...

TELL ME YOUR STORY: documentary at the Avlona Youth Detention Center

By George Paschos Untold stories. Important stories that instantly move anyone who sees them. Stories told by young people who made mistakes, whose bad decisions ultimately led to a prison sentence at the Avlona Youth Detention Center and an ongoing effort to course correct and, later on, reintegrate themselves into society.  Exile Room's "Tell Me Your Story", an innovative documentary workshop series that took place behind bars in collaboration with KETHEA STROFI, afforded inmates aged 18-26 the opportunity to talk about their daily ...

REVIEW: Miss Kiet’s Children

Kiet Engels is the type of teacher we all wished we had in school. Strict but receptive. Patient and passionate about progress. Under her guidance, a class full of young refuges and their stories, who came to the Netherlands in order to seek a better and fairer future, unravels its innocence transforming it into a willingness for learning. The directing duo Petra Lataster-Czisch and Peter Lataster delivers a lesson of paramount importance regarding the difficult task of integration in a foreign, unknown county and focuses on particular ...

OPINION: We Must Be Dreaming

"We Must be Dreaming" is the title of David Bert Joris Dhert's first feature documentary, screened at the Athens Ethnographic Film Festival, although what he really meant to say was "We Must Keep Fighting". Two major sports events - the Olympic Games and the FIFA Cup - take the center stage, while Rio de Janeiro is the lead character. Using a series of seemingly disjointed shots, the director paints an unlikely portrait of the Brazilian capital before and after the Olympic Games, going past the fake smiles and the festive decor. People are ...

EXPERIMENTAL ETHNOGRAPHY with Natalia Marín on 25 & 26/2

 EXPERIMENTAL ETHNOGRAPHY with Natalia Marín  Saturday & Sunday 25 & 26/02, 11:00 - 2:00 @ Exile Room Right after the Berlinale, Spanish filmmaker Natalia Marín makes a brief stop in Athens to initiate Greek audiences into experimental documentary. Part of film collective "Los Hijos", Marín and her collaborators have invented a genre of their own, where ethnography meets avant garde.  Somewhere in the Spanish countryside, two young men and a woman are shooting an old man telling stories about crimes once committed in the ...