Mystery 31 The Elefsinians
project
Description
Mystery 31 The Elefsinians was a documentary by Filippos Koutsaftis, a cinematic mosaic that attempted to assemble the dynamic portrait of Elefsina through snapshots of everyday life, oblique glances at the historical past of the city, from Antiquity to the 20th century, and above all through the micro-histories that the director has compiled, collecting testimonies from residents about their life in Elefsina and their particular relationship with the city. Thus, the portrait of Elefsina appeared as a sum of individual portraits and the term “anthropogeography” took on an almost literal dimension, in that the city is essentially composed of its citizens, prominent and anonymous, past and present, living and dead.
The foundation for the project consisted of more than 80 hours of archival material, which the director acquired during the shooting of his first film about Elefsina, Agelastos Petra, over a period of twelve years, from 1988 to 2000. To this material, which was an expression of nativeness and a reservoir of cultural memory, new elements were added which the filmmaker collected in the 21st century, with testimonies from younger residents and images that depict the tectonic changes that have occurred in the character of Elefsina over time.
The creative interweaving of timelessness and synchronicity set the tone for the whole film, whether on the micro level, with testimonies from old and young residents and images of everyday life, or on the macro level, with reflections and snapshots that shed light on the cultural heritage and local history, as well as on the developments that are gradually shaping the new character of the city and bringing about decisive changes in the conditions and lifestyle of its inhabitants.
Taking the Eleusinian Mysteries as a discreet but perceptible and persistent reference point, utilising their universal implications and existential extensions, Filippos Koutsaftis ultimately attempted to extrapolate and transcribe his material into an ontological horizon of reference, so that the portrait of the concrete and historical Elefsina is at the same time a portrait of a marginally symbolic and visionary Elefsina, a city that transcends geographical boundaries and is the spiritual capital of the European and the Western world in general.
The first screening of the documentary held at the Cine Eleusis inauguration was part of the Closing Ceremony of the Eleusis 2023 European Capital of Culture Program in the context of the IN SITU REALITIES - Eleusis Documentary Festival.
Archival Research
Stages of Implementation
Premiere: 15-12-2023 Time: 20:00
Outdoor screening: 15-12-2023 Time: 21:00
Screenings at Cine Eleusis: 16-12-2023 Ώρα: 21:00
17-12-2023 Time: 20:00
Screenings at Cine Danaos: premiere 11-04-2024 Ώρα: 20:00
Thursday and Wednesday Time: 20:00
Friday - Tuesday Time: 18:00
Partners
Tickets Policy
Premiere: entry only by invitations, outdoor screening: free admission, screening at Cine Eleusis: 5€ general admission, 3€ reduced ticket (students, 65+, unemployed, persons with disabilities and accompanying persons), 8€ single day ticket, 25€ single festival ticket
Category
Axes
CC-License
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