2023 will be the third year for GIFFT and it is packed with full length, short films and documentaries from Greece or films produced by Greeks outside of Greece. The Greek film industry has developed to a level of excellence over the last 10 years and here is a chance for Canadians to immerse themselves in it showing feature films in 11 Canadian cites. Feature films will be in person but the non “top tier” full length films may be seen online throughout Canada. For further information including cost and scheduling go to www.gifft.ca.
“Black Stone” is a fake documentary unravelling what appears to be an unsolvable mystery taking its time for unspoken commentary on Greek society. We commence with some cutting commentary on the Greek Civil Service which is a dream for Greek parents to have their children employed in its ranks. We read on the screen, “There are approximately 602,301 civil servants in Greece of which 48,646 are “missing” after being hired by unknown public administration bodies known as “The Ghosts of the Civil Service”. Strikes one as a barb at the bloated Greek civil service. There is a long tradition of Greek films barbing and satirizing the civil service.
Sixty-eight-year-old widow Charoula (Eleni Kokkidou) struggles in her Athens neighbourhood to care for disabled, foul mouthed, lazy and smutty son Lefteris (Julio George Katsis). Panos her other son is a Greek civil servant who has disappeared for no apparent reason leaving a black rock on his desk. Charoula has lost touch with modern society having no knowledge of computers and the modern digital world. She is happier listening to Greek Orthodox services and traditional Greek songs.
So the “film crew” arrives at Charoula’s wanting to film what happened to the missing Panos as they are shooting a documentary about these missing Greek civil servants. There is a sound man and a cameraman interacting on screen with Charoula and Lefteris. The banter between them is amusing. Charoula believes them to be from the “news”.
Lefteris offers for ten Euros to show the crew Panos’ stash consisting of some pornographic magazines and a poster of the Athens Black Panthers with the name Tania and Café Sirocco written on the back. Think of where a sirocco is from and that name in the café and you have a subtle comment on the North African wind like a migrant storm buffeting Greece. Tania is with the Black Panthers of Athens looking for a black man to be featured in a BLM campaign and they think they have found him namely Michalis a black Ghanese taxi driver that had recently befriended Charoula and Lefteris. Charoula has trouble determining if Michalis is Greek not realizing the huge influx of immigrants to Greece over the last 30 years that has radically changed the ethnic composition of Greece. Michalis speaks flawless Greek and was born in Greece. Michalis and the family go to the town of Kineta where the mystery of Panos begins to make sense with a biracial twist. Indicative of the future of Greece perhaps. As for the past Charoula has to manage a fishbone stuck in her throat for the last 60 years. And what about the closing symbolism of opening the black rock where a panda bear does its turns. In the fire sale of Greek state assets during the financial crisis the People’s Republic of China were big buyers.
You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/764091067
Award winning performance (Best Leading Actress) for Kokkidou in the 2023 Hellenic Academy Awards. Directed by Spiro Jacovides and he also wrote the screenplay with Ziad Semann.
Check the website to determine if this in theatre film is playing in your city. It will be playing in Toronto on October 3 at Innis Town Hall Cinema.
RKS 2023 Film Rating 93/100.
Set the Bar 