63 Greek - feature and short - films will be screened during the 17th TDF. 17 of these are included in the various International Program sections and 46 in the Greek Panorama section.

 

Renowned Greek filmmaker Filippos Koutsaftis returns after a 15-year absence since his seminal Mourning Rock doc, with Hail Arcadia, a poetic journey to the past and present of the Arcadian region. Stelios Kouloglou’s re-visits the Greek military dictatorship with Escape from Amorgos, which focuses on the 1969 international conspiracy to remove former minister Georgios Milonas from his exile in Amorgos. Stamatis Tsarouhas highlights with Kostis Palamas The Supreme Flower in Greek Literature the unknown aspects of the great Greek poet’s life and work, and Angelos Kovotsos captures the obsessions and talent of sculptor David Kennedy, in David Kennedy, The Sculptor of Life.

 

With the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide still very much felt, survivors from both sides learn how to co-exist in A Place for Everyone by Angelos Rallis and Hans Ulrich Gossl. The New Plastic Road by Angelos Tsaousis and Myrto Papadopoulou travels to Tajikistan to record the economic and social changes taking place at this former section of the “Silk Road”.

 

Bringing the spotlight back to Greece, Susanne Bausinger and Stelios Efstathopoulos follow with Emery Tales a group of workers at the Naxos emery mine who are fighting for their survival, while Stratoula Theodoratou’s The Fish on the Mountain traces the decline of the shipbuilding industry in Perama and the subsequent social repercussions. On a lighter note, Leaving is Living by Lora Maragkoudaki provides an in-depth look at the decades-long “tradition” of spring poaching at the Ionian region. The Greek ecosystem provides the backdrop for Alexandros Papailiou’s In the Nest of Time which follows three different people within a 15-year period.

 

Struggle is to be found across the land: as in Western Macedonia where a sprightly archaeologist gives it her all in order to save an important archaeological site in Kimonas Tsakiris’ The Archaeologist, or back in Athens, where a pregnant cancer patient fights for her survival in Stavros Psyllakis’ Olympia.

 

Menelaos Karamaghiolis’ My Planet records an immigrant family’s attempts to re-unite, with the significant help of the Arsis NGO, Valerie Kontakos’ Mana reveals the courageous life of a group of women, who, as part of the Lyrio Children’s Village and without any help from church or state, take under their wings abandoned or abused children. A rare insight into the mental health system is provided by Kalliopi Legaki’s Psy which is structured around intimate confessions of people dealing with mental issues.

 

A self-exiled Chilean visits his country after 38 years in Un Condor by Yannis Kolozis, while the every-day life of a 25-year-old man from Barcelona is observed in Pure Life by Panayotis Evangelidis.

The Greek Films participating in all Festival Sections are: