Documentary / 32’
Directed by Emilie Yannoukou, Melpo Gavatha & Alexandre Papanicolaou
Before the 2004 Olympic Games, the Greek government decided the imminent demolition of an historical neighbourhood of Athens in order to make a park and a cultural center. The buildings of this district were built in 1936, in the Bauhaus architectural style, for Greek refugees that came after the catastrophe of Smyrna, from Minor Asia to Greece, in 1922.
The inhabitants are determined not to leave the neighbourhood.
They talk about their problems with the government, how important it is for the city to renovate those buildings of historical and architectural importance, and also personal stories of their families that came to stay there.
They are humoristic, or some times sarcastic when they talk about the Greek government, and touching when they remember and tell about how the neighbourhood was some years before. They try by every possible means, with the help of associations or by organising demos, to save those buildings. Are they really going to save the neighbourhood?
Festivals
Thessaloniki’s Documentary Film Festival in 2004.
TV screenings
Broadcast by the Greek channel SKAI