PRESS CONFERENCE BY KYRIAKI MALAMA
Thessaloniki’s own Kyriaki Malama talked about the human focus of her films, the social groups she approaches and the sociopolitical view of her documentaries during a press conference she gave on Tuesday, March 15, 2011, in the framework of the 13th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. The Festival is organizing a tribute to Malama’s work.
In his welcoming speech, TDF director Dimitris Eipides said: “Kyriaki Malama is a director I have thought highly of since the beginning of her career. She is a member of the local community of Thessaloniki, but her work has always had an international dimension as well. Since she is one of Thessaloniki’s own, her presence here means a lot. She can serve as a role model for new directors”.
Her work has taken her beyond Greece, to Albania, Cyprus, Turkey, Palestine and Israel. She has been collaborating closely with screenwriter and producer Fani Toupaligi, who was also present at the press conference. Malama is noted for the humanistic focus of her films, but at the same time she succeeds in shedding light on less visible aspects of the issues she deals with. This is also the case for her film, The other side, which narrates the tragic events of 1974 through the eyes of Turkish Cypriots. “The margin defines the nucleus, the center. You have to choose where to start from. Fani and me begin our search from the margin and move on to define the center with our images”, said the director.
For Malama, the documentary is simply “the creative processing of reality”, which stimulates the viewer to move a step forward. “A documentary can only highlight issues, not offer solutions. It can stimulate the mind of the viewer, who can then give the solutions and raise his voice. Silence is for lambs, not people”, she added.
The issue of the homeland dominates her films Women in Little Paris, On the traces and The other side. “Kafka has said that ‘the road to near is long’”. It involves defining the limits of what is mine and what is alien; it has to do with the way I adapt to the places I live in, to my own people and my enemies. The journey recorded in our films reflects the way we place ourselves in time and space vis a vis the other”, said Mrs. Toupaligi.
Malama and Toupaligi made special reference to the documentary Black Flag, which records the story of a team of reserve Israeli officers who refuse to return to occupied Palestinian territory to fight. Their testimonies are chilling and prove that peace can prevail over violence. “The important thing is that these people were brave enough to leave their violent everyday life and confront their own people, their religion and their families, saying ‘no’. This story was gripping”, said Malama. “Their movement was called ‘Courage to Refuse’ and, indeed, they were brave enough to refuse, they were not cowards - they were just generous to the enemy and acknowledged the justness of his cause”, added Mrs. Toupaligi.
The primary goal of both women when they start working on a project is to gain the trust of their subjects. This process takes place either during or before shooting begins. A typical example is the film Women in Little Paris. The film’s protagonists are gypsy women living in Thessaloniki’s area of Dendropotamos. At first they face the director’s camera with distrust and suspiciousness. Only gradually, when they get used to the camera’s presence, they let go, express themselves without reserve and share with the viewers the norms and traditions of the Roma people living in the area. “Trust can only be won if you spend some time with the people you want to film. You have to show that you are not only interested in the film, and that you treat your subject as a special being”, said Mrs. Malama.
