Monday 13/11/2000

In his press conference today, director Stavros Ioannou characterized his film, Dead End Streets as an "emotional outpouring". In presenting the film which participates in the Greek film section of the 41st Film Festival, author Yorgos Bramos described it as an "intense feeling". He pointed out that an extremely important element of the film is in the definition of the word homeland, which he suggests as "a place of survival", and can be experienced only by those who are persecuted and without one.

The Kurdish issue can be perceived through a political, sociological or historical viewpoint, said Mr. Bramos. As far as Stavros Ioannou is concerned, his approach is mainly humane and the other issues are secondary.

Mr. Bramos said that the director worked at Koumoundourou square which ultimately acts as a homeland for these people who travel through Greece on their way to other European countries, and for the Kurds who enter the country without documents nor visions but only basic needs.

Stavros Ioannou who has a background in documentaries said that the incitement and challenge to shoot the film was the actors themselves, the people who gather at the square and treat anyone approaching them with disbelief and distrust. The four Kurd illegal immigrants staring in the film are now in Germany, Holland and Italy.

Thirty hours of taping were required for the final outcome of the production's screenplay. The fact that the film's external scenes were shot at Koumoundourou square where spotlights couldn't be used required the use of a digital camera and natural lighting. The digital camera's zooming feature helped to emphasize the subject. Cinematographer Diamantis Papadopoulos also underlined how the difficulties of filming in low light conditions helped preserve the "discrete" atmosphere of the film.

As the director said, the transfer process (i.e., of video to film) lasted six months and he was rather pleased with the results. As far as the film's distribution is concerned, Mr. Ioannou said that since Dead End Streets' topic is a timely one, he feels that it will be screened both in Greece and abroad since the Kurdish issue is a sensitive one.