12th International Archaeological and Cultural Film Festival – Day 2

The 12th edition of AGON International Archaeological and Cultural Film Festival is here. The organization celebrates its 28th anniversary and is happy to announce that the Selection Committee has selected the films to be included in this year’s program. From 20 to 25 May, 61 films from 22 countries will be screened at the Greek Film Archive.

For another year, the Festival invites old and new friends to enjoy watching, apart from archaeological films, a wide thematic range of films, including documentaries, reportage, fiction, animation, research, and educational films, among others, always with a focus on the human being. This year’s films are recent creations (from 2019 onwards) that will take us not only to excavation sites in Greece, Egypt, Pergamon and Mesopotamia, Madagascar, Kyrgyzstan, India… but also to Trikala.

We will also learn about forbidden love stories of antiquity, the Stone Age in Sweden, the mysteries hidden at the bottom of a lake in Turkey, the secrets of Louis XIV, the life of horsemen in pre-Christian Siberia, the legends of the Castle of Mytilene, and for the first time a prehistoric woman, Lady Sapiens, will ‘narrate’ her story. All are films that bring the science of History, Archaeology, and Folklore Studies closer to the art of cinema.

Through these films we witness the quests of the scientific community, the juggling between digital and analogue documentation in scientific research, the challenges of excavation in adverse conditions, the joy of discovery, and slowly fading traditions that are captured by the cinematic lens.

Program

17:00
The Heroic Vourla of Asia Minor | Greece, 2022, 50 minutes
Director: Irene Sarioglou – Producer: Hellenic History Foundation
Vourla or Vourlas (Urla in Turkish) was the second largest city on the coast of Asia Minor after Smyrna (İzmir). It was built near the ancient Greek city of Klazomenai (Clazomenae), east of Erythrae (Litri), of which it was the capital. Vourla was one of the most important cities in the Greek world in the early 20th century: an economic, intellectual, and administrative centre of a prosperous region with intensive commercial and industrial activity, and prolific intellectual life. In fact, for the Nobel Prize-winning poet George Seferis, although born and raised in Smyrna, it was only Vourla that remained indelible in his memory representing the true meaning of ‘home sweet home…’. The documentary examines the history of Vourla through various testimonies, enriched with extensive archival and photographic material.

18:00
Heraia – Pythagoria. The Imprint of a Utopia | Greece, 2023, 36 minutes
Director: Panos Zenelis – Producer: Mecano Film
Taking a closer look at one of the longest running festivals in the Aegean and collecting visual material since 2007, the film captures the overall effort involved in creating and hosting the Heraia-Pythagoria Festival on Samos, as well as the point of view of the volunteers, artists, and scientists who have taken part in the Festival and honoured it with their presence. The Heraia-Pythagoria Festival highlights Greece’s ecumenical values, which are also shared by all humanity.
In the 17 years of its history, the Festival has hosted conferences of global reach, as well as important scientific and cultural events. The highlight of the festival is the re-enactment of the celebration of Heraia held on Samos during antiquity.
“If History at its peak moments is the most poetic of all sciences, Poetry at its most profound moments is the most obscure of all histories”. These are the words of poet Nicolas Calas that were the driving inspiration and valuable compass in the making of this film.

18:40
The Autun Diatrete Vase | France, 2022, 8 minutes
Director: Daphné Turpin – Producer: INRAP
Nicolas Tisserand presents the discovery of the exceptional diatrete vase in Autun (Saône-et-Loire) in 2020, as the conclusion to the “Éclats d’archéo” series.

18:50
Missing Footsteps | Portugal, 2023, 10 minutes
Director: Daniel Sousa – Producer: Post It Studio
Portuguese cobblestone is one of the biggest symbols of Portugal culture: an icon of engineering, pride, and a pebble in the shoe of urban mobility.

19:00
Through the Legend that I Live in – The Timeless Beat of Mytilene Castle | Greece, 2023, 17 minutes
Director: Lydia Tsenta – Producer: Print All Ltd
The castle of Mytilene has existed throughout the ages, changing forms over the centuries. From antiquity to the present day, it stands as the emblem of the city of Mytilene, unshakeable. Thousands of stories have been written on its walls.
These stories reveal the castle’s history. They are told to us by the voices of the castle, and we hear them through the eyes of our protagonist, who, as a figure symbolising the soul of the castle, wanders through it and shares with us everything he would like to pass on as knowledge to future generations.
The castle, still standing loud in today’s time and ‘claiming’ its own place in modern life. Time and events may have left their mark on it, but the history they highlight is precious, not to let it be lost. Today the castle is writing a new chapter in its history, reborn, and it continues to write new paths for the culture of contemporary life.

19:20
The Egyptian Cat Goddess: In Search of Bastet | Italy, 2023, 45 minutes
Director: Curtis Ryan Woodside – Producer: CRW Productions
Explore the ancient forgotten city of the cat, Bubastis, located high up in the Nile Delta. A city that many ancient historians have described as a feminine stronghold and in the Bible is even mentioned as a site where Jesus had once lived. Discover the clues on cat worship in ancient Egypt in the tombs and scattered treasures all around the world and hear first-hand information from cat mummy expert Salima Ikram about what was really going on with cat priests! Join Curtis Ryan Woodside in the search for the ancient cat goddess.

20:10
Téviec, Murder in the Mesolithic | France, 2022, 52 minutes
Director: Hubert Béasse – Production: Vivement Lundi
In the 1920s, a couple of archaeologists discovered a Mesolithic burial site on island of Téviec in Morbihan. Among the skeletons, one of them caught the attention of scientific community. Designated “K6”, it appears to have been the victim of a homicide.
In the early 2000s, interest in the Téviec skeletons was renewed.
Archaeologist Grégor Marchand and his team reopen the investigation into K6’s murder…

21:10
A Big Family | Greece, 2022, 69 minutes
Director – Producer: Vassilis Loules
Family and friendship, open fields where children played around and the neighborhood, innovation and solidarity are the ‘secret blend’ that led to the successful path taken by Kliafa soft drinks since 1926 in Trikala. A small universe of creativity and humanity, built around one man’s vision “…to cool and sweeten the world!”.