An international symposium on Theo Angelopoulos, the worldwide famous Greek director, titled "Gazes into the world of Theo Angelopoulos" was organized last year within the context of the 41st International Thessaloniki Film Festival. The lectures of leading academics provided the audience with a pertinent and original way of deploying Angelopoulos' films.

The presentation of the minutes of the International Symposium took place on Tuesday, November 13th at Warehouse C at the Port, with the attendance of Theo Angelopoulos. The presentation was also attended by the Director of the Festival, Michel Demopoulos, cinema specialist Irini Stathi, who was not only in charge of the Symposium but also curator of the edition of the minutes, the film critic, Giannis Bakogiannopoulos, the academic and film critic, Nikos Kolovos, as well as the Spanish Director and film critic Peret Albero.

According to Irini Stathi, this elegant edition of the minutes of the International Symposium, accompanied by photographs from the director's films, provided the audience with a collection of texts and points of view on the eminent director by film critics and cinema specialists, a material which wouldn't be easily recollected otherwise.

Although the bibliography related to the person and the work of Theo Angelopoulos is quite extensive, the minutes of the International Symposium are of great interest given that they gather points of view of various Greek and foreign academics originating not only from the field of film critic, but also from various fields, such as Philosophy, Philology and Social Sciences.

According to the curator of this edition, the first part of the book is dedicated to the investigation of "the way through which Angelopoulos formed his cinematographic language and structures, from the beginning of the sixties till 1980, depicting his elements from Greek culture, theater, painting and music".

The second part of the edition investigates the meaning of the director's films in a philosophical level as it concerns the worldwide Cinema and the contemporary world, after the collapse of collective dreams, of politics and of ideology. Angelopoulos proposes "new ways of contemplating in relation with the void that is created in the modern world. He doesn't need to provide us with the answers; the essential is to help us think and face the up to date reality and the embarrassment of the cinema regarding that reality", concluded the curator of the edition.

Giannis Bakogiannopoulos referred to the director's upcoming cinema trilogy, noting that he is expecting it to be "memorable". He didn't neglect to state that Angelopoulos is "one of the few directors who has been dedicated dozens of essays, not to mention the extended studies and the references devoted to him through collective works." He pointed out that this comprises a rare Greek phenomenon.

Nikos Kolovos who participated in the International Symposium and has edited various essays on the director, insisted on tracing the utopias that the director proposes in his films, while he added that the interventions at the Symposium left their mark on the study of Angelopoulos' films.

Reminding the audience with extracts from the lectures, the author and film critic referred to the director's films under the scope of Nietsche's philosophy. Moreover, he presented other accounts of the connection of Angelopoulos' films with peace in the Balkans, with matters of identity and the perception of the other in Greece.

The director and film critic Peter Albero added another dimension in the study of Angelopoulos' films, noting that "the texts provide us with the chance to view his Cinema in relation to philosophy, history, Greek mythology, politics, Balkan geography", while at the same time revealing the simplicity and complexity of Theo Angelopoulos' gaze.