The Greek Community of Alexandria

Tag: Culture

  • Greek Ministry of Culture declares 2017 ‘Year of Nikos Kazantzakis’

    Greek Ministry of Culture declares 2017 ‘Year of Nikos Kazantzakis’

    In a bid to remember and commemorate the writer and philosopher that was Nikos Kazantzakis, the Ministry of Culture has declared 2017 as the ‘Year of Nikos Kazantzakis’.

    Sixty years since his death in 1957, the International Society of Greek Writers & Artists has developed a World Literary Competition named Kazantzakia, and submissions are now open.

    Those interested in taking part are required to submit an original selection of unpublished work that can range from poetry, storytelling, lyrics, photography, painting or a report, all of which are required to relate back to Kazantzakis and play a role in the promotion of his memory.

    Submissions will be examined and judged by a five-member evaluation committee that will be comprised of well-known writers with relevant experience.
    Winners will be announced and awarded at an official ceremony at the City of Athens Cultural Centre on March 18, just days before World Poetry Day, thanks to the support of the Municipality of Athens, O.P.A.N.D.A.

    The winner and runner-up of the poetry category will also have their work published in the following issue of Literary Anthology, which will also be dedicated to Kazantzakis.

    COMPETITION DETAILS:
    – Poems should not exceed 30 lines (two minutes required recitation time)
    – Stories should not exceed six pages
    – Submissions accepted in the following languages: Chinese, Spanish, French, English, German
    – Work submitted should not be under review currently for another publication and should remain unpublished throughout the duration of the competition
    – Each project can be sent with an alias name written on the top right of each page of your submission via email to [email protected]
    – Include a separate document with full contact information (name, email address, mailing address, and phone number) and a short biography of maximum 250 words, including previously published works with the manuscript email submission
    – PDF formatting will not be accepted.

    The Kazantzakia 2017 deadline is January 31, 2017. For more information, visit somateiodeel.blogspot.com.au/

    (neoskosmos.com)

  • Greek museum among the top 10 new museum openings in 2017

    Greek museum among the top 10 new museum openings in 2017

    History, art and design will be celebrated in their many forms, and disciplines, at new institutions from Paris to Los Angeles and London to Cape Town. The newspaper Guardian published the list with the top 10 new museum openings in 2017, among them a Greek museum that opened its doors in October, 2016.

    The National Museum of Contemporary Art is in the 3rd place of the list.

    See the whole list:

    1.Museum Barberini, Potsdam, Germany

    2.Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town

    3.National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), Athens

    4.Museum MACAN, Jakarta, Indonesia

    5.Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

    6.Victoria & Albert Museum, London

    7.Design Society, Shēnzhèn, China

    8.Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia

    9.Musées Yves Saint Laurent, Paris and Marrakech

    10.Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE

    (www.ellines.com)

  • South Aegean named European Region of Gastronomy 2019

    South Aegean named European Region of Gastronomy 2019

    ΓενικάThe title of European Region of Gastronomy 2019 has been awarded to the South Aegean in Greece and the Transylvanian town of Sibiu in Romania, the international jury announced on the 29th of September.

    The title is awarded each year by the IGCAT (International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism) with the support of European institutions. The award aims to stimulate gastronomic innovation and sustainable tourism.

    The international jury comprising of IGCAT experts was chaired by Blanca Cros from the Catalan Tourist Agency (Spain), and included Peter Astrup, Central Denmark Region (Denmark); Anna Blaua, Delightfully Delicious Destination Project at Riga Tourism Development Bureau (Latvia); Alfred van Mameren, Province of Noord-Brabant (Netherlands) and; Ilona Sares, ProAgria Kuopio (Finland).

    According to the IGCAT, it is ‘a stimulus to link food, hospitality, tourism, culture, health and sustainability to support economic, cultural, social and environmental development’. Both regions will host  programmes of gastronomy-related events throughout 2019 that will showcase regional culture and innovation.

    The jury was very impressed with the work undertaken by both candidate regions in preparing and presenting their bids.

    The South Aegean region of Greece consists of the Cyclades and Dodecanese island groups in the central and south-eastern Aegean Sea. The region has more than 50 inhabited islands with specific historical backgrounds and culture, as well as distinctive gastronomic identity and local products, from Santorini, Paros and Mykonos through to Kos, Rhodes, and Naxos.

    George Hatzimarkos, the region’s governor, stated that for the South Aegean, gastronomy is not just about food, but also a social and cultural event. Quality ingredients are shaped by the micro-climate, the sun, the air and the sea, with trademark olive groves and vineyards part of the gastronomic tradition.

    IGCAT is an international network of experts in the fields of culture, arts, tourism and gastronomy that aim to empower local communities by guiding, facilitating and supporting leaders in cities, regions and cultural projects to understand the potential of their distinct food, culture, arts and sustainable tourism assets.

    This award aims to contribute to better quality of life in European regions, by highlighting distinctive food cultures, educating for better health and sustainability and stimulating gastronomic innovation.

    (greekcitytimes.com)

  • Thessaloniki International Film Festival: Continuity and change

    Thessaloniki International Film Festival: Continuity and change

    ΠολιτισμόςThessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) is one of the oldest and most reputable cinema events in Southeast Europe. On the occasion of TIFF’s 57th edition (3-13.11.2016) Festivalists “online playform for independent film criticism”, published a report by Lydia Papadimitriou* that provides an overview of the verve behind recent processes in the Greek film industry (Original title: Continuity and change)**:The poster of the 57th Thessaloniki International Film Festival was bold and monochromatic. Large black capital letters, partly concealed multiple repetitions of the festival’s name and edition, against a white background. The effect was dynamic, underlining strength and simplicity, while also suggesting a sense of continuity and origin.

    This was the first edition under the new leadership of Élise Jalladeau as General Director and Orestis Andreadakis as Artistic Director. The Opening ceremony pointed to their vision to bring a forward-looking energy to the festival without altering its core identity. Taking place a day earlier than the usual Friday start, the two directors’ speeches underlined the embrace of the past, the journeys of discovery, the challenges of the future. The Opening night culminated with a screening of Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson (2016), reasserting the festival’s continuing commitment to independent cinema, while also reminding us of the iconic American director’s visit to the festival three years ago.

    So what were the innovations in this year’s edition? Like the addition of an extra hidden ingredient in a recipe that already works, as Andreadakis put it to me, they were small and subtle, but nonetheless detectable by the discerning palate. Some new programme sections cropped up: Mirror/Image coupled titles dealing with the same topic and 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her presented films by women about women. While such ephemeral sections reflected curatorial responses to this year’s crop, the parallel, non-competitive Greek Film Festival that showcased the majority of Greek productions of the year was here to stay. The Youth Jury Award for Best Feature Film was given to Sotiris Tsafoulias’ crime drama The Other Me / Eteros Ego (2016), aiming to restore the audience’s faith in Greek cinema as the film blends artistic quality with commercial potential. A number of specially subtitled and/or audio-described screenings – a novelty for the festival – widened accessibility for hard-of-hearing and visually impaired spectators.

    Thessaloniki is also very active behind the scenes. Since 2000, its Agora sidebar has become a regional and national hub for professionals to network and seek opportunities for funding, development, and distribution. New awards, incentives, and initiatives were introduced this year. The EURIMAGES Lab Project Award for unconventional projects (50 000 EUR) was added to the existing Agora Works in Progress prizes. The regional emphasis of the Crossroads Co-production Forum that gives prizes for development and co-productions was complemented by the activities of the SEE Cinema Network. And there was a brand new initiative too, the Locarno Industry Academy International in Thessaloniki – a program for training young sales agents, distributors, and new media professionals.

    For all these additional “spices” that made the festival somehow different this year, we should not disregard its main ingredients – the excellent films that consistently led to sold-out screenings.What follows discusses some of the highlights I savored during my short stay in Thessaloniki.

    From the festival’s International Competition (for directors’ first or second films), I thoroughly enjoyed two loosely autobiographical films from the Nordic countries, Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson’s Hearstone / Hhartasteinn (2016) and Amanda Kernell’s Sami Blood / Sameblod (2016). Set in a fishing village in Iceland similar to where its 34-year-old director grew up, HEARTSTONE is a coming-of-age story of two boys whose divergent sexuality tests the boundaries of friendship. Inspired by the story of the director’s grandmother, SÁMI BLOOD follows a young woman from Lapland in the 1930s, as she revolts against the ingrained racism of Swedish society and tries her luck in the city. Dissimilar in visual texture, narrative tone, and thematic emphasis, both films are about growing up, and they both make for compulsive and emotionally touching viewing.

    Another highpoint from the competition was the French/Greek/Algerian coproduction I still hide to smoke / À mon age je me cache encore pour fumer (2016) by Rayhana, a theatrically conceived, but also engrossing and politically astute feminist story that puts into sharp relief tensions that emerge from the clash of religious and secular cultures in a post-9/11 world. Shot (and mostly set) in Thessaloniki’s historic Bey Hammam, it may be no coincidence that it also won the Audience Award at the festival.

    Among Greek films, three also participated at the International Competition: Yannis Sakaridis’ realist melodrama Amerika Square / Plateia Amerikis (2016), Sofia Exarchou’s San Sebastián winner Park (2016), and Stergios Paschos’ low-fi post-breakup comedy Afterlov (2016). Of these, my personal favorite was Amerika Square, a dynamically paced, well crafted, raw but also sensitive story set within a racially tense, multicultural neighborhood of Athens, that dramatizes effectively aspects of the recent (and not-so-recent) refugee and immigration crises. Visually and conceptually – rather than narratively – driven, PARK is set in the abandoned Olympic village, now ephemerally inhabited by drifting youths, offering limited, if any, hope for escape. Finally, while keeping the two characters locked in an Athenian villa for its duration, the mumblecore-like Afterlove, with its static shots and dialogue-driven emotional pyrotechnics, will likely manage wider appeal among young audiences.

    From the non-competitive Open Horizons section, my highlight was Ivan I. Tverdovsky’s Zoology / Zoologiya (2016) – a confidently told, semi-absurd but highly convincing parable about a middle-aged woman in a provincial Russian town who has grown a long tail. Offering stinging social critique, but celebrating difference while also pointing to the difficulties of non-conformity, this is very insightful modern fairy tale, presented in alternating light and dark narrative tones. From the same section, Christopher Murray’s ethnographically inspired The blind Christ / El Cristo ciego (2016) is about a self-professed Messiah who takes to the Chilean desert to find and heal an injured friend. Based on stories and beliefs held among the materially deprived inhabitants of Northern Chile, the film’s take on religion is open-minded, while its portrayal of the local people – a number of which appear in the film – is both powerful and sensitive. I also watched Gabe Klinger’s Porto (2016), a three-part story of an exquisite one-night stand. Narratively adventurous, as it tells (parts of) the story through three perspectives, the girl’s, the boy’s, and the couple’s, it is rewarding as an exploration of the power of attraction, but offers few insights to the culture of the city from its title.

    Last but not least is the Balkan Survey, a non-competitive section that gives the festival a regionally distinctive character both through retrospectives and new films. This year’s tribute was dedicated to Turkish director Zeki Demirkubuz whose stories of people caught into impossible situations are among the best examples of New Turkish cinema, and deserve further attention. From the new Balkan films, I watched Serbian actress Mirjana Karanović’s directorial debut A Good Wife / Dobra Zena (2016), a well-paced story of a middle-aged woman faced with her husband’s atrocities during the Bosnian war. Raising questions about complicity and redemption, the film covers familiar ground in terms of subject matter, yet has the potential to reach wider audiences due to its star-director’s popularity. The Bulgarian Glory / Slava (2016) by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov focuses on a rail worker who finds a bag full of money and chooses to do the right thing, by returning it to the authorities. The film presents a potent parable about corruption and moral choices while also exposing the hypocrisy of the political and media establishment.

    Finally, I was very pleased not only to catch Ana-Felicia Scutelnicu’s debut Anishoara (2016) in the Balkan Survey line-up, but also to meet the young Moldovan director in Thessaloniki and discuss her work. A poetic tale of a girl’s transition into womanhood, the film (named after the main actress and protagonist) is structured around four seasons, and focuses as much on the changing countryside as on the young woman’s gradual maturation. Episodic and sensuous rather than narratively driven, this is a film for the large screen, as the camera lingers on the faces of its non-profession actress and the beautiful landscapes, enticing contemplative feelings through its well-toned visual textures. It took four shooting trips to her home country, Moldova (north-east of Romania), and three DoPs, for the young director who now lives and works in Germany to collect the footage for her graduation film. Just like her young character and protagonist – and most characters in the film – Scutelnicu has left her home country in search of better opportunities. That we can still enjoy the world she left behind through her vision is one of the many rewards that films and festivals can offer, and we are grateful.

    (www.greeknewsagenda.gr)

  • Ancient world on view in Moscow

    Ancient world on view in Moscow

    ΠολιτισμόςA bronze medal depicting a 2nd century BC bust of Athena Promachos is currently on display in the “Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greeks” exhibition at the State Historical Museum of Russia in Moscow. The exhibition, which runs to February, is part of the “Year of Greece in Russia” series of events. On view are 135 ancient artifacts including sculptures, ceramics, coins and jewelry, among others, dating from prehistoric times up to the Roman era. The objects are on loan from various Greek museums.

    (www.ekathimerini.com)

  • Egypt’s Grand Museum, National Museum of Egyptian Civilization to have separate management

    Egypt’s Grand Museum, National Museum of Egyptian Civilization to have separate management

    ΠολιτισμόςPrime Minister Sherif Ismail issued a ministerial decree to establish two independent General Authorities for the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) under the supervision of the antiquities ministry.

    Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany said the decree states that every authority would have its own board of trustees composed of a group of Egyptian and prominent international public figures with experience in the field.  

    Every board would draft the museum’s general policies, setting up a work programme and managing the museum’s budget through studying the grants, donations and gifts provided from international, regional and local parties, within the articles of law and regulations that organise them.

    The board of trustees, he added, would also appoint the museum director and his two assistants.

    GEM’s Supervisor General Tarek Tawfik described the decree as ideal because it would facilitate administrative work in both museums as well as decrease its bureaucracy.

    He went on to say that the board of trustees would push the work forward to make the dream of both museums come true.

    (english.ahram.org.eg)

  • Pakistan unearths the city defeated by Alexander the Great

    Pakistan unearths the city defeated by Alexander the Great

    ΑρχαιολογίαPakistan has unearthed the city defeated by Alexander the Great.

    The ruins that Italian archaeologists have unearthed in modern-day Barikot, in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, once belonged to Bazira, the city conquered by Alexander the Great.

    In short, Italian archaeologists working in the Italian-Pakistani excavations in the Swat valley did not go on vacation this summer.

    Bazira is mentioned in classical sources as having been put under siege and conquered by the Macedonians led by Alexander the Great towards the end of the 4th Century BC. Up to now there had been no trace of this ancient city. Archaeologists had dated the city at the Indo-Greek period of King Menander, the Greek King of Buddhist faith who ruled almost two centuries after Alexander and whose coins were found in the excavation site.

    The Italian Archaeological Mission (renamed ISMEO), founded by Giuseppe Tucci in the Swat District in 1955, has been excavating in Barikot since 1984. Since 2011 the excavations at Barikot, the ancient Bazira (12 hectares including the acropolis) have concentrated on approximately one hectare in the south-western quadrant of the city.

    During the last few weeks, an analysis of the materials conducted with the help of the CIRCE team headed by Prof Filippo Terrasi (Napoli2 University, Department of Mathematics and Physics) revealed that the pre Indo-Greek city levels can be dated with absolute certainty at the middle of the 3rd Century BC, one century prior to the city walls, which means in the middle of the Mauryan period. And that’s not all: the protohistoric village unveiled by the trench foundations outside the city walls dates back to 1100-1000 BC.

    “Today it is clear that the Indo-Greeks fortified a city that already existed and that, in order to build the city walls, they destroyed most of the stratigraphy and exposed extremely ancient structures through extended and deep terracing work. We used to think that the city lays on nothing more than a late protohistoric settlement. Today we know that it was already a city and that the ruins at the foot of the walls are 800 years older than we had originally thought,” said the Mission Director, Luca M. Olivieri. This means that the city reveals an amazing sequence of occupation.

    (www.pakistantoday.com.pk)

  • 4,200-Year-Old Egyptian Temple Discovered to Have Remarkably Well Preserved Artwork

    4,200-Year-Old Egyptian Temple Discovered to Have Remarkably Well Preserved Artwork

    ΑρχαιολογίαScattered throughout modern Egypt are many ancient temples which are famous for their splendor and historical significance. The perfect example of one of these breathtaking displays of luxury is the Temple of Hathor. Built around 2250 BC, the artwork that runs throughout the building is remarkably well kept, despite being thousands and thousands of years old. As the main temple within the significant Dendera Temple complex, it is known for being one of the best-preserved sites in all of Egypt.

    Facing the Nile, the sanctuary layout is classical Egyptian, containing stunning examples of Ptolemaic Egyptian artwork including depictions of Cleopatra and her son, fathered by Julius Caesar. The temple itself was built to worship the Ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor, who personified feminine love, healing, and motherhood. Imposing columns have been carved to bear the face of the goddess, complete with the cow horns she is typically shown to bear.

    Though the entire temple is magnificent, it is the ceiling that remains the true masterpiece. Recently, workers carefully removed hundreds of years of black soot which accumulated as a centuries-old Arab village established camp within the temple. Through the restoration, a spectacular and vibrant painting overhead was slowly revealed. Decorated with a complex astrological chart of the heavens and zodiac signs, the ancient temple ceiling now offers a highly detailed setting to study or just a lovely scene to visit and be swept away by the antiquated opulence.

    (www.mymodernmet.com)

  • The world’s oldest computer is still revealing its secrets

    The world’s oldest computer is still revealing its secrets

    ΠολιτισμόςItem 15087 wasn’t much to look at, particularly compared to other wonders uncovered from the shipwreck at Antikythera, Greece, in 1901. The underwater excavation revealed gorgeous bronze sculptures, ropes of decadent jewelry and a treasure trove of antique coins.

    Amid all that splendor, who could have guessed that a shoebox-size mangled bronze machine, its inscriptions barely legible, its gears calcified and corroded, would be the discovery that could captivate scientists for more than a century?

    “In this very small volume of messed-up corroded metal you have packed in there enough knowledge to fill several books telling us about ancient technology, ancient science and the way these interacted with the broader culture of the time,” said Alexander Jones, a historian of ancient science at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. “It would be hard to dispute that this is the single most information-rich object that has been uncovered by archaeologists from ancient times.”

    Jones is part of an international team of archaeologists, astronomers and historians who have labored for the past 10 years to decipher the mechanism’s many mysteries. The results of their research, including the text of a long explanatory “label” revealed through X-ray analysis, were just published in a special issue of the journal Almagest, which examines the history and philosophy of science.

    The findings substantially improve our understanding of the instrument’s origins and purpose, Jones said, offering hints at where and by whom the mechanism was made, and how it might have been used. It looks increasingly like a “philosopher’s guide to the galaxy,” as the Associated Press put it — functioning as a teaching tool, a status symbol and an elaborate celebration of the wonders of ancient science and technology.

    [The key to these ancient riddles may lie in a father’s love for his dead son] 

    In its prime, about 2,100 years ago, the Antikythera (an-ti-KEE-thur-a) Mechanism was a complex, whirling, clockwork instrument comprising at least 30 bronze gears bearing thousands of interlocking tiny teeth. Powered by a single hand crank, the machine modeled the passage of time and the movements of celestial bodies with astonishing precision. It had dials that counted the days according to at least three different calendars, and another that could be used to calculate the timing of the Olympics. Pointers representing the stars and planets revolved around its front face, indicating their position in relation to Earth. A tiny, painted model of the moon rotated on a spindly axis, flashing black and white to mimic the real moon’s waxing and waning.

    The sum of all these moving parts was far and away the most sophisticated piece of machinery found from ancient Greece. Nothing like it would appear again until the 14th century, when the earliest geared clocks began to be built in Europe. For the first half century after its discovery, researchers believed that the Antikythera Mechanism had to be something simpler than it seemed, like an astrolabe. How could the Greeks have developed the technology needed to create something so precise, so perfect — only to have it vanish for 1,400 years?

    But then Derek de Solla Price, a polymath physicist and science historian at Yale University, traveled to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens to take a look at the enigmatic piece of machinery. In a 1959 paper in Scientific American, he posited that the Antikythera Mechanism was actually the world’s first known “computer,” capable of calculating astronomical events and illustrating the workings of the universe. Over the next two and a half decades, he described in meticulous detail how the mechanism’s diverse functions could be elucidated from the relationships among its intricately interlocked gears.

    “Nothing like this instrument is preserved elsewhere. Nothing comparable to it is known from any ancient scientific text or literary allusion,” he wrote.

    That wasn’t completely accurate — Cicero wrote of a instrument made by the first century BCE scholar Posidonius of Rhodes that “at each revolution reproduces the same motions of the Sun, the Moon and the five planets that take place in the heavens every day and night.” But it was true that the existence of the Antikythera Mechanism challenged all of scientists’ assumptions about what the ancient Greeks were capable of.

    “It is a bit frightening to know that just before the fall of their great civilization the ancient Greeks had come so close to our age, not only in their thought, but also in their scientific technology,” Price said.

    Still, the degree of damage to the ancient plates and gears meant that many key questions about the the instrument couldn’t be answered with the technology of Price’s day. Many of the internal workings were clogged or corroded, and the inscriptions were faded or covered up by plates that had been crushed together.

    [Broken pottery reveals the sheer devastation caused by the Black Death] 

    Enter X-ray scanning and imaging technology, which have finally become powerful enough to allow researchers to peer beneath the machine’s calcified surfaces. A decade ago, a diverse group of scientists teamed up to form the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project (AMRP), which would take advantage of that new capability. Their initial results, which illuminated some of the complex inner workings of the machine, were exciting enough to persuade Jones to jump on board.

    Fluent in Ancient Greek, he was able to translate the hundreds of new characters revealed in the advanced imaging process.

    “Before, we had scraps of the text that was hiding inside these fragments, but there was still a lot of noise,” he said. By combining X-ray images with the impressions left on material that had stuck to the original bronze, “it was like a double jigsaw puzzle that we were able to use for a much clearer reading.”

    The main discovery was a more than 3,500-word explanatory text on the main plate of the instrument. It’s not quite an instruction manual — speaking to reporters, Jones’s colleague Mike Edmunds compared it to the long label beside an item in a museum display, according to the AP.

    “It’s not telling you how to use it. It says, ‘What you see is such and such,’ rather than, ‘Turn this knob and it shows you something,’ ” he explained.

    Other newly translated excerpts included descriptions of a calendar unique to the northern Greek city of Corinth and tiny orbs — now believed lost to the sandy sea bottom — that once moved across the instrument’s face in perfect simulation of the true motion of the five known planets, as well as a mark on the dial that gave the dates of various athletic events, including a relatively minor competition that was held in the city of Rhodes.

    That indicates that the mechanism may have been built in Rhodes — a theory boosted by the fact that much of the pottery uncovered by the shipwreck was characteristic of that city. The craftsmanship of the instrument, and the two distinct sets of handwriting evident in the inscriptions, makes Jones believe that it was a team effort from a small workshop that may have produced similar items. True, no other Antikythera Mechanisms have been found, but that doesn’t mean they never existed. Plenty of ancient bronze artifacts were melted down for scrap (indeed, the mechanism itself may have included material from other objects).

    It’s likely that this particular mechanism and the associated Antikythera treasures were en route to a Roman port, where they’d be sold to wealthy nobles who collected rare antiques and intellectual curiosities to adorn their homes.

    The elegant complexity of the mechanism – and the use its makers designed it for – are emblematic of the values of the ancient world: For example, a dial that predicts the occurrence of eclipses to the precision of a day also purports to forecast what the color of the moon and weather in the region will be that day. To modern scientists, the three phenomena are entirely distinct from one another — eclipses depend on the predictable movements of the sun, moon and planets, the color of the moon on the scattering of light in Earth’s atmosphere, and the weather on difficult-to-track local conditions. Astronomers may be able to forecast an eclipse years in advance, but there’s no scientific way to know the weather that far out (just ask our friends at the Capital Weather Gang).

    But to an ancient Greek, the three concerns were inextricably linked. It was believed that an eclipse could portend a famine, an uprising, a nation’s fate in war.

    “Things like eclipses were regarded as having ominous significance,” Jones said. It would have made perfect sense to tie together “these things that are purely astronomical with things that are more cultural, like the Olympic games, and calendars, which is astronomy in service of religion and society, with astrology, which is pure religion.”

    That may go some way toward explaining the strange realization Price made more than 50 years ago: The ancient Greeks came dazzlingly close to inventing clockwork centuries sooner than really happened. That they chose to utilize the technology not to mark the minutes, but to plot out their place in the universe, shows just how deeply they regarded the significance of celestial events in their lives.

    In a single instrument, Jones said, “they were trying to gather a whole range of things that were part of the Greek experience of the cosmos.”

    (www.washingtonpost.com)

  • Athens Open Air Film Festival 2016

    Athens Open Air Film Festival 2016

    ΠολιτισμόςΟπως κάθε χρόνο την τελευταία πενταετία, μαζί με το καλοκαίρι στην Αθήνα έρχεται και το Athens Open Air Film Festival, με δωρεάν προβολές ταινιών σε θερινά σινεμά και εξωτερικούς χώρους της πόλης.

    Φέτος το πρόγραμμα περιλαμβάνει από μιούζικαλ μέχρι γουέστερν και από κλασικές ταινίες τρόμου μέχρι κλασικά αριστουργήματα, συν cult ταινίες που αξίζει να ανακαλύψετε και ένα αφιέρωμα στις εναλλακτικές κινηματογραφικές μεταφορές έργων του Γουίλιαμ Σαίξπηρ από σπουδαίους σκηνοθέτες και ακόμη πιο σπουδαίους ερμηνευτές, με αφορμή την επέτειο των 400 χρόνων από το θάνατό του.

    Οι προβολές του Athens Open Air Film Festival πραγματοποιούνται με την ευγενική υποστήριξη του ΕΟΤ και συνδιοργανωτής της μεγαλύτερης υπαίθριας κινηματογραφικής γιορτής στην πόλη είναι ο Οργανισμός Πολιτισμού, Αθλητισμού & Νεολαίας του Δήμου Αθηναίων.

    Στην μεγάλη κινηματογραφική γιορτή συμμετέχει και η Fischer, η μπίρα που αγαπάει τον καλό κινηματογράφο και συμπληρώνει ιδανικά τις ξεχωριστές στιγμές του 6ου Athens Open Air Film Festival, δροσίζοντας απολαυστικά και κερνώντας το κοινό των προβολών.

    ΠΡΟΓΡΑΜΜΑ

    Τρίτη 21 Ιουνίου / Εορτασμός της Ευρωπαϊκής Γιορτής Μουσικής / «Purple Rain» (1984) του Aλμπερτ Μαγκνόλι / Πλατεία Αυδή (Λεωνίδου 35, Αθήνα)

    H σχεδόν αυτοβιογραφική ταινία που εκτόξευσε το αστέρι του Prince στην κορυφή, αποτέλεσε μια από τις μεγαλύτερες εισπρακτικές επιτυχίες στα ταμεία της δεκαετίας του ’80 και γέννησε ένα από τα κορυφαία σάουντρακ όλων των εποχών.

    Παρασκευή 24 Ιουνίου / Αφιέρωμα «Shakespeare in the City» / «Ριχάρδος o 3ος» (Richard III, 1995) του Ρίτσαρντ Λονκρέιν / Aλσος Μπαρουτάδικο (Ιερά Οδός 290, Αιγάλεω)

    Ο Iαν ΜακΚέλεν παραδίδει μαθήματα υποκριτικής στην εκμοντερνισμένη, εντυπωσιακή σκηνογραφικά και πιο ανορθόδοξη διασκευή του βίαιου σαιξπηρικού έργου.

    Τρίτη 28 Ιουνίου / Επίσημη Πρεμιέρα (είσοδος μόνο με προσκλήσεις και δελτία εισόδου) / «West Side Story» (1961) των Τζερόμ Ρόμπινς και Ρόμπερτ Γουάιζ / Ναός Ολυμπίου Διός (είσοδος από Λεωφ. Βασιλίσσης Όλγας & από Λεωφ. Αμαλίας για ΑμεΑ)

    Ο μουσικοχορευτικός θρίαμβος των 10 Όσκαρ με τις αξέχαστες μελωδίες του Λέοναρντ Μπέρνσταϊν και το ιδιοφυές λιμπρέτο του Στίβεν Σόντχαϊμ, σε μία επετειακή προβολή 55 χρόνων από την πρώτη κυκλοφορία του ριζοσπαστικού αυτού φιλμ.

    Παρασκευή 1 Ιουλίου / «The Innocents» (1961) του Τζακ Κλέιτον / Aλσος Πετραλώνων (εντός γηπέδου μπάσκετ, Πετράλωνα)

    Ο Τζακ Κλέιτον διασκευάζει εκπληκτικά το «Στρίψιμο της Βίδας» του Χένρι Τζέιμς σε ένα αριστούργημα ατμόσφαιρας και υποβολής, που το Περιοδικό ΣΙΝΕΜΑ αναγόρευσε σε καλύτερη ταινία τρόμου όλων των εποχών.

    Τρίτη 5 Ιουλίου / «Αγκίρε, η Μάστιγα του Θεού» (Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes, 1972) του Βέρνερ Χέρτζογκ / Ανοιχτό Θέατρο Κολωνού (Λόφος Ιππείου Κολωνού, Αθήνα)

    Μία εξερευνητική αποστολή στον Αμαζόνιο καταλήγει σε μια συγκλονιστική πραγματεία πάνω στην τρέλα του μεγαλείου η οποία δονείται από τη δαιμονική, παροξυσμική παρουσία του Κλάους Κίνσκι. Το αδιαφιλονίκητο καλλιτεχνικό αποκορύφωμα του Βέρνερ Χέρτζογκ.

    Πέμπτη 7 Ιουλίου / Aφιέρωμα «Shakespeare in the City» / «Μάκβεθ» (The Tragedy of Macbeth, 1971) του Ρόμαν Πολάνσκι / Πειραιώς 260 (Πειραιώς 260, Άγιος Ιωάννης Ρέντης)

    Ο Πολάνσκι παρουσιάζει μια εφιαλτική εκδοχή της περίφημης σεξπηρικής τραγωδίας πάνω στις αιματηρές συνέπειες του ασίγαστου πόθου για εξουσία, με φόντο το τραχύ τοπίο της βόρειας Ουαλίας.

    Παρασκευή 8 Ιουλίου / «Η Απειλή» (The Thing, 1982) του Τζον Κάρπεντερ / Θέατρο Αττικού Αλσους (Περιφερειακός Γαλατσίου, είσοδος από Καρπενησιώτη)

    Σε μια από τις πιο κλασικές πλέον δημιουργίες του sci-fi είδους, ο σκηνοθέτης του «Halloween» προσκαλεί σε μία μαζική άσκηση φαντασίας, αγωνίας και ανείπωτης φρίκης που θα σας παγώσει το αίμα.

    Δευτέρα 11 Ιουλίου / «Φιλιά εις τα Παιδιά» (Children in Hiding, 2011) του Βασίλη Λουλέ / Πεζόδρομος Ερμού (Ερμού 150, απέναντι από την είσοδο του Μουσείου Κεραμεικού)

    Πέντε ηλικιωμένοι Ελληνοεβραίοι αφηγούνται στον φακό τις δοκιμασίες τους, ως παιδιά, από την Ελλάδα της γερμανικής κατοχής. Ο Βασίλης Λουλές ανασύρει μνήμες από την εισβολή των ναζί, την απεγνωσμένη φυγή, τη σωτηρία των παιδιών σε φιλόξενα σπίτια άλλων Ελλήνων και το βάρος της προσωπικής απώλειας σε ένα από τα πιο συγκινητικά ελληνικά ντοκιμαντέρ των τελευταίων χρόνων. Η ταινία θα προβληθεί στις 11 Ιουλίου, την ημέρα που ξεκίνησε ο επίσημος μαζικός διωγμός των Εβραίων της Θεσσαλονίκης το 1942, στην πλατεία Ελευθερίας. Έχει μείνει στην ιστορία ως το «Μαύρο Σάββατο».

    Τετάρτη 13 Ιουλίου / Στο πλαίσιο του Φεστιβάλ Αθηνών & Επιδαύρου και του αφιερώματος «Shakespeare in the City» / «Η Τρικυμία» (The Tempest, 1979) του Ντέρεκ Τζάρμαν / Πειραιώς 260 (Πειραιώς 260, Άγιος Ιωάννης Ρέντης)

    Ο Τζάρμαν αναμετριέται με το κύκνειο άσμα του Σαίξπηρ και βάζει την αιρετική υπογραφή του σε μία από τις πιο γοητευτικά παράδοξες μεταφορές έργου του Βρετανού βάρδου στη μεγάλη οθόνη.

    Πέμπτη 14 Ιουλίου / «Ντίβα» (Diva, 1981) του Ζαν-Ζακ Μπενέξ / Σινέ Δεξαμενή (Πλατεία Δεξαμενής, Αθήνα)

    Από τις πιο αγαπημένες ταινίες των θεατών της δεκαετίας του ’80, αυτός ο μαγευτικός συνδυασμός νουάρ και ρομάντζου απέδωσε με έξοχους κινηματογραφικούς όρους αυτό που μέχρι σήμερα εξακολουθούμε να αποκαλούμε μοντέρνο σινεμά.

    Τρίτη 19 Ιουλίου / «Aliens» (1986) του Τζέιμς Κάμερον / Τρένο στο Ρουφ (Επαρχιακή Οδός Καλλιθέας-Ολυμπιάδας, Αθήνα)

    Εντυπωσιακά εφέ, καταιγισμός δράσης, σκηνές δυσβάσταχτης αγωνίας και ανελέητοι ρυθμοί σε ένα ένδοξο σίκουελ που στέκεται επάξια πλάι στην πρωτότυπη ταινία του Ρίντλεϊ Σκοτ και εκτοξεύει την ηρωίδα του στη λίστα με τις πιο διαχρονικές φιγούρες του σινεμά.

    Τετάρτη 20 Ιουλίου / Στο πλαίσιο του Φεστιβάλ Αθηνών & Επιδαύρου και του αφιερώματος «Shakespeare in the City» / «Βασιλιάς Ληρ» (King Lear, 1970) του Πίτερ Μπρουκ / Πειραιώς 260 (Πειραιώς 260, Άγιος Ιωάννης Ρέντης)

    Δυο ιερά τέρατα του αγγλικού θεάτρου, ο σκηνοθέτης Πίτερ Μπρουκ και ο ηθοποιός Πολ Σκόφιλντ, μεταμορφώνουν την τραγωδία του «Βασιλιά Ληρ» σε κινηματογραφικό θέαμα υψηλής ποιότητας.

    Παρασκευή 22 Ιουλίου / «Η Ετυμηγορία» (The Verdict, 1982) του Σίντνεϊ Λουμέτ / Σινέ Τριανόν (Οδός Κοδριγκτώνος 21, Αθήνα)

    Με έναν εξαιρετικό Πολ Νιούμαν στον πρωταγωνιστικό ρόλο, ένας από τους μέγιστους δημιουργούς του αμερικανικού σινεμά υπογράφει μια από τις καλύτερες ταινίες του: Ενα συγκλονιστικό δικαστικό δράμα το οποίο στάθηκε σημείο αναφοράς για αμέτρητα φιλμ που ακολούθησαν.

    Δευτέρα 25 Ιουλίου / Σινεμά μετά μουσικής / «Dementia» (1955) του Τζoν Πάρκερ συνοδεία μουσικής επένδυσης από τον The Boy / Ταινιοθήκη της Ελλάδος (Ιερά Οδός 48, Αθήνα)

    Η νυχτερινή οδύσσεια μιας μοναχικής γυναίκας στους δρόμους της μεγαλούπολης την οδηγεί σε σκοτεινά μονοπάτια σεξουαλικής απόγνωσης και παράνοιας, σε αυτό το πραγματικά αλλόκοτο και ακόμη ανεξερεύνητο από το ευρύ κοινό νουάρ που δεν έχει καθόλου διαλόγους, αφήνοντας να μιλήσει η εξπρεσιονιστική γλώσσα των εικόνων.

    Παρασκευή 29 Ιουλίου / «Αμαντέους» (Amadeus, 1984) του Μίλος Φόρμαν (ο χώρος θα επιβεβαιωθεί τις επόμενες ημέρες)

    Το βραβευμένο με 8 Οσκαρ κομψοτέχνημα του Μίλος Φόρμαν για τον Βόλφγκανγκ Αμαντέους Μότσαρτ είναι μία ταινία που ξεπέρασε τα όρια της μουσικής βιογραφίας. Βασισμένη στο ομώνυμο θεατρικό έργο του καταξιωμένου Πίτερ Σάφερ, έγινε μία οξυδερκή σπουδή για το χάσμα ανάμεσα στο θεϊκό ταλέντο και την ανθρώπινη μετριότητα.

    Παρασκευή 19 Αυγούστου / «Προετοιμασία για Eγκλημα» (Dressed to Kill, 1980) του Μπράιαν Ντε Πάλμα / Ταινιοθήκη της Ελλάδος (Ιερά Οδός 48, Αθήνα)

    Προκλητικός αισθησιασμός, σοκαριστική βία, ατσαλένιο σασπένς και ραδιούργες σεναριακές εκπλήξεις σε ένα διεστραμμένα απολαυστικό ψυχολογικό θρίλερ που ο Ντε Πάλμα σκηνοθετεί με απερίγραπτη μαεστρία και απροκάλυπτη ηδονή.

    Παρασκευή 26 Αυγούστου / Αφιέρωμα «Shakespeare in the City» / «Ερρίκος ο 5ος» (Henry V, 1944) του Λόρενς Ολίβιε / Πεζόδρομος Δ. Αρεοπαγίτου (απέναντι από το Μουσείο της Ακρόπολης)

    Πόλεμος, διαφθορά, ρομαντισμός και …Λόρενς Ολίβιε. Ο ηθοποιός που αποτέλεσε συνώνυμο της σαιξπηρικής αναπαράστασης σε θέατρο και σινεμά, αναλαμβάνει το ρόλο του Ερρίκου του 5ου και ενορχηστρώνει ως σκηνοθέτης μερικές από τις πιο επικές (και αιματηρές) σκηνές μάχης της 7ης τέχνης.

    Δευτέρα 29 Αυγούστου / Αφιέρωμα «Shakespeare in the City» / «Το Θέατρο του Αίματος» (Theatre of Blood, 1973) του Ντάγκλας Χίκοξ / Νομισματικό Μουσείο (Πανεπιστημίου 12, Αθήνα)

    Γκραν γκινιόλ τρόμος, ακαταμάχητο μαύρο χιούμορ και ένας σαρδόνιος Βίνσεντ Πράις που δεν χορταίνεις να βλέπεις πρωτοστατούν σε αυτή την εκκεντρική παρωδία, όπου ένας ηθοποιός εκδικείται τους κριτικούς θεάτρου που τον απαξίωσαν, έχοντας ως εγχειρίδιο φόνου τα έργα του Σαίξπηρ!

    Τετάρτη 31 Αυγούστου / «Κάποτε στη Δύση» (Once Upon a Time in the West, 1968) του Σέρτζιο Λεόνε / Ακαδημία Πλάτωνος (Μοναστηριού 137, Αθήνα)

    Οι αξεπέραστες μουσικές παρτιτούρες του Ενιο Μορικόνε, το κοφτερό σαν μαχαίρι βλέμμα του Χένρι Φόντα, η μεγαλειώδης σκηνοθεσία του Σέρτζιο Λεόνε, η Κλαούντια Καρντινάλε να σκορπίζει την ομορφιά της σε ένα σκληρό κόσμο αντρών και η μυθολογία της Αγριας Δύσης συνηγορούν στο να γεννήσουν ένα από τα ανυπέρβλητα γουέστερν έπη του κινηματογράφου.

    Παρασκευή 2 Σεπτεμβρίου / «Οι Αταίριαστοι» (Misfits. 1961) του Τζον Χιούστον (ο χώρος θα επιβεβαιωθεί τις επόμενες ημέρες)

    Eνα μελαγχολικό και ελεγειακό ρέκβιεμ για τους υπέροχους losers αυτού του κόσμου με πρωταγωνιστές τους Κλαρκ Γκέιμπλ, Μέριλιν Μονρό και Μοντγκόμερι Κλιφτ στις τελευταίες κινηματογραφικές παρουσίες τους.

    Δευτέρα 5 Σεπτεμβρίου / Προβολή έκπληξη για τα 40 χρόνια του περιοδικού «Αθηνόραμα» (Ο χώρος και οι λεπτομέρειες της προβολής θα ανακοινωθούν σύντομα)

    (news247.gr)