12th International Archaeological and Cultural Film Festival – Day 5

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
About the Cypriot Marble | Cyprus, 2022, 70 minutes
Director: Paschalis Papapetrou – Producer: Anadysis Films Ltd
Marble… its beauty has been praised since the ancient times by sculptors, architects, and decorators alike, creating uniquely beautiful statues and sculptures and decorating imposing buildings.
During the ancient times and the early Christian era, imposing basilicas were built on Cyprus, adorned with marble columns and colourful marble floors. Later on, in the 20th century, the terrazzo and marble industries developed in Cyprus, covering the floors of churches, hotels, and residences.
Attempting a journey into the world of marble in Cyprus, we set off by answering this very first question: Is there any marble in Cyprus?

18:20
Sfendyli: When the Water Uproots you | Greece, 2023, 40 minutes
Director-Producer: Michail Bastakis
The village of Sfendyli had to be submerged in order to build the dam of the Aposelemis river. Although the construction of this dam would serve approximately 40% of the inhabitants of Crete, it would also uproot the few inhabitants of Sfendyli from their village. How did the residents deal with that situation?
The documentary “Sfendyli: When the water uproots you” is oriented towards the category of social documentaries. It discusses how the local community, consisting of the former residents of the village, reacted and mobilised –before and during the construction of the dam– claiming whatever they could as compensation in order to replace their lost homes and their lost “neighborhood”.

19:10
The Strange Story of the Hearts of Kings | France, 2023, 53 minutes
Direction: Dominique Adt – Co-production: France Télévisions, Capa Presse, Matcha
Philippe Charlier, forensic pathologist and anthropologist, has decided to study two of the most important kings in the history of France: Louis XIII and Louis XIV, father and son, the first known as the Just and the latter as the Sun King, who left the Château of Versailles as his legacy. After consulting exceptional archives and eminent specialists (historians, physicians, scientists), the pathologist draws up the health logs of the two monarchs, and delves into the mysteries of the remains of the two sovereigns: What remains of these two kings? What diseases plagued them? What did they die of?
To solve these enigmas, Philippe Charlier has gained access to some surprising relics! The mummified hearts of Louis XIII and Louis XIV! Are these two relics real? The forensic pathologist will be conducting historical and scientific research in search of the secrets of these mummified organs.
He will also investigate a legend: Pieces of the mummified hearts of the kings of France are said to have been used in paintings…
Micro-ct-canner, scanning electron microscope, Carbon 14, proteomics, palynology, mass spectrometry… Philippe Charlier uses scientific advances to reveal the little-known history of Louis XIII and Louis XIV!

20:10
The Lost Temple of Artemis | Switzerland, 2023, 53 minutes
Director: Sébastien Reichenbach – Producer: Climage Audiovisuel, Stéphane Goël
The location of the sanctuary of Artemis at Amarynthos has long remained one of the last great archaeological enigmas of Greek antiquity. This vast Artemision is mentioned in several ancient texts, which even go so far as to specify the distance separating the sanctuary from the ancient city of Eretria. But despite the efforts of numerous scientific expeditions since the end of the 19th century, no trace of the sanctuary or its temple has ever been found, leaving the mystery unsolved.
In the 1960s, a young archaeologist from Neuchâtel – Denis Knoepfler – set out in search of the lost temple of Artemis. His investigations soon led him into the hinterland of the island of Euboea, well beyond the limits of previous expeditions.
It would take five decades of searching, unshakeable faith and moving tons of earth to finally unravel the mystery. In 2017, a Swiss-Greek team of archaeologists formally identified the sanctuary of Artemis, where Denis Knoepfler had predicted it lay buried. The repercussions are considerable: this is one of the most spectacular archaeological discoveries made in Greece in 30 years.
The film retraces this collective epic, rich in twists and turns, and details the crucial stages of a long-term investigation that has fascinated, and will continue to fascinate, several generations of archaeologists. The story also explores the captivating history of the ancient city of Eretria and immerses us in the mystical atmosphere of the cult of Artemis, the powerful goddess of the hunt and protector of the wild world.

21:00
Ex Profugis – Material Culture and Forced Migration in 20th-century Cyprus | Cyprus, 2022, 10 minutes
Director: Thodoris Vassileiou – Producer: University of Cyprus
“By the end of 2022, 108.4 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide…” including refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons. This claim by the UNHCR, with alarming predictions of an increase in this number in the coming years, is the irrefutable reality of a continuously volatile world.
Just over the last century, the intensity of forced migration was particularly apparent in the broader region of the eastern Mediterranean. Such massive population movement inevitably signifies the movement of constructs, such as cultural heritage and materiality, with Cyprus – an island familiar with the concept of displacement – providing numerous examples of this phenomenon.
Shifting focus on material culture, the team of the Archaeological Research Unit, University of Cyprus overviews two case studies of forced migration in Cyprus during the 20th century by exploring how objects can be carriers of culture and societal ideas.

21:15
Venizelos, the Struggle for Asia Minor | Greece, 2022, 85 minutes
Director: Nikos Dayandas – Producer: Long Run Productions
This film follows one of the most important politicians of modern Greece as he faces the extraordinary challenges during a crucial decade starting from the Balkan Wars and World War I up until the Treaty of Lausanne (1923). The struggle of Eleftherios Venizelos comes to life through dramatised scenes, rare archives and interviews with experts.