Screening Schedule

The story of the life of a modern Greek from 1941 to the present. A university student before the war, he finds himself imprisoned by the Italians. He escapes to the mountains. The rebels find him and take him with them. After the experience of the first battle, he lives through the Resistance, always keeping a certain distance from events. A purely epic film/fresco of Greece of the past 50 years, "Eniochos - The Charioteer" rivets the viewer with the breath-taking, harsh scenes of the first part and the lyrical-elegiac ones that follow. If Damianos uses the Charioteer as the emblematic figure of his film, it is because he represents competitiveness, vigilance, and a love of the struggle, i.e. life itself.

A sergeant meets Evdokia, a prostitute, and marries her. The harsh light, the rocks, the barren landscape, and the strenuous military training on the one hand, sexuality and prohibition on the other. The environment has a negative effect on the young couple's relationship and the sergeant will try to free himself of their bond. Linked in a common fate that governs their lives, the two lovers rebel against a social system which is more powerful than they are. In the end, they will be crushed, just like in ancient tragedy. The heroes of the film are living on the borderline of a surrealist world which is typically Greek and where absurdity constitutes an everyday element of reality. This is a key film on modern Greek society and one of the most important works of Greek cinema.

Fifteen-year-old Lara is determined to become a professional ballerina and tries by any means necessary to overcome different obstacles: the harsh, antagonistic world of classic dance, the insecurity of adolescence, and –most of all– the fact that she was born a boy. Having the unconditional support of her father and defying the derogatory gaze of the crowd, she walks dancing towards the impossible. In this free adaptation of the real story of a transgender who demolished all stereotypes around sex and gender, ballet’s discipline becomes a metaphor for the specific weight of all bodies that matter.

Three phase in the life of a mountain dweller who comes down to the plains and from the to Piraeus, to emigrate to Australia. The first part is a vivid recreation of village life, with its conflicts and the mental resonance of these conflicts, presented almost without words, depending only on gazes. The second part juxtaposes the provocation of youthful eroticism to the anguish of sin. The third part, marked by a violent crudeness, transcends the limits of realism and leaves creatures trembling, stripped to their innermost existence. In the three chapters of this odyssey, Damianos documents the inner drama of the outcasts who cannot put down roots anywhere...