FRANCOPHONE DAY
Screening of the Costa Gavras film Capital
The national premiere of Costa Gavras’ film Capital took place on Saturday, November 3, 2012, at the Olympion theatre in the context of the time-honored Francophone Day, hosted by the 53rd Thessaloniki International Film Festival. The director attended the screening.
Following the screening, Costa Gavras participated in a Q&A session with the audience. He noted that he wanted his film to provoke the audience and give food for thought. “I wanted to make a film about money and the role money plays in our society. Cinema cannot transform society, but it can go a long way towards changing things - as it has done in the 117 years of its existence. When you leave a movie theater, you can be joyous, sad or troubled. Let me give you an example. There is a great movie called Wall Street. We all came out of the theatre feeling satisfied, because in the end the Wall Street investor was punished and the unionist triumphed as the good guy - but this is totally unconnected from reality. I think that cinema can play many roles in life. I wanted to make a thought provoking film, that would perhaps make the audience want to find out more about the film’s subject”. The director added, however, that this reflection and perturbation should not be turned into frustration and a feeling of weakness vis-a-vis the omnipotent capital. “I believe there is hope, and this hope lies in each and every one of us - it depends on you personally and the stance you take in the future”, he said.
Addressing a question concerning the realistic depiction of people and situations in his films, the director revealed that Capital’s “dialogues and characters are based on real people and events. It was not my intention to make a fictional film. Some things are so improbable that it is almost impossible to fathom and imagine by yourself”. He added that the only aspect of his film that understates the reality concerns the amounts of money involved in the global movement of capital, as well as the remuneration and bonuses earned by speculators and bankers. “I gave the script to a banker to read and he told me ‘the numbers you are using are too modest, you should increase them’. I didn’t do it”, he explained.
Asked about where the current, open economic warfare might lead - a war in which Greece is one of the victims - Mr. Gavras said: “This war will end as well, as all wars do. What is important to ask is why it wasn’t over before it even began, before there were any victims... With regard to Greece, this country has historically suffered numerous disasters, always managing to rise again - in the end, we will overcome. We lived through a foreign occupation, a civil war... I do not know how much longer the crisis will go on, I do know many people are suffering, but I am confident we will make it ”.
It is noteworthy that, in the context of the Francophone Day, two more films were screened in addition to Gavras’ film: War Witch by Kim Nguyen and La Vie de Boheme by Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki. This year’s festival is hosting a tribute to the latter’s work. The Francophone Day is co-organized by the Thessaloniki Film Festival, the francophone channel TV5 MONDE, the French Institute of Thessaloniki and the French Institute of Greece.
The tribute to the work of Aki Kaurismaki and the films Capital and War Witch are part of the “Open Horizons” section of the Festival, which is one of the Festival’s actions financed by the European Union’s Regional Development Fund for Central Macedonia, 2007-2013.
