Within the framework of the Festival's tribute to the great filmmaker Takis Kanellopoulos, the screening of the film Glory Sky (1962), took place on Saturday, November 4th, at the Olympion, one of the most significant anti-war films in the history of Greek cinema. The film was screened with universal accessibility terms for the audience, thanks to the support of Alpha Bank, the Festival's accessibility sponsor. Following the screening, a discussion took place with the distinguished historian, professor at Columbia University, and director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Public Humanities Initiative (SNFPHI) at Columbia University, Mark Mazower, about the cinematic legacy of Glory Sky. Also involved in the conversation was the curator of the tribute to Takis Kanellopoulos and film critic (flix.gr), Manolis Kranakis. The discussion, moderated by the Festival's international programme associate and writer, Yannis Palavos, was live streamed on the Festival's YouTube channel. The event was held in collaboration with Stavros Niarchos Foundation Public Humanities Initiative (SNFPHI) at Columbia University.
The Festival's artistic director, Orestis Andreadakis initially took the floor and welcomed the audience. "We are very happy to present this tribute to Takis Kanellopoulos, the only director in the history of Greek cinema, who lived his entire life and shot all his films in Thessaloniki and the surrounding area. I would like to thank everyone who helped us with this tribute, especially Takis Kanellopoulos's family. We are even more delighted to have one of the most important historians of our time, Mark Mazower, with us."
Αfter the screening, Mark Mazower analyzed the historical context of the film, noting that the movie offers an incredible and profound look at the impact of war in Greece. "What he (Kanellopoulos) did, and before any historian even thought about it, was that he focused his attention on a particular pivotal historical period, from October '40 to April '41, which was going to define the next 30-40 years of the country. In this way, I think it's a work that served as a prophetic mirror for the future. Moreover, it casts its gaze not on big politics but on the common soldiers and ordinary people, which is particularly significant since at that time, it's not the big political figures in the foreground, but the common soldier and their experience, an element that foreshadows what will happen in Greek society afterwards. In this sense, the film is a true masterpiece". Mr. Mazower also highlighted, among other points, that although the film doesn't constitute a direct historical source, "it can be a source of understanding for the period. I think we need a mediator-interpreter like Kanellopoulos to bring this past to life. Not to have the final word but to give us an idea, to reflect on history from a different perspective," Mr. Mazower stated.
Mr. Kranakis, who curated the original exhibition-art installation “Takis Kanellopoulos: Dreaming of an Excursion” as part of the tribute, referred to the place the film holds within the overall body of work of Takis Kanellopoulos, while commenting on the various interpretations of its anti-war character. “Αfter years of studying Greek cinema, I am certain that Glory Sky is undoubtedly a masterpiece on an international level. I would say the film constitutes a kind of revolutionary act. The problem with Takis Kanellopoulos is his ostracization from Greek history and the New Greek Cinema of the '70s, which excluded him because he was characterized as a ‘non-political’ director. We can now say that this is a purely political film, because it is political to draw from real stories for your screenplay and to redefine the concept of patriotism. It's easy to describe it as an anti-war film, but I think Glory Sky wants to share the very simple fact that in war, there are no winners; there are only people who lose their humanity,” he said. "For me, the anti-war significance of the film lies in the fact that there is no enemy; we don't see the enemy, and that was a deliberate choice by Kanellopoulos. The enemy is war itself. He wanted to provide an explanation for the incomprehensibility of war, that it destroys us. This is the fundamental anti-war aspect of the film."
At this point, in response to a question from Yiannis Palavos regarding the contemporary interpretation of the film, given the two active warfronts in Gaza and Ukraine, Mark Mazower stressed: 'War is not always and everywhere the same. There are different types of wars. The war unfolding in Gaza right now is different from the war unfolding in Ukraine, and the war depicted by Kanellopoulos is a specific type of war, for which there are no direct analogies. What strikes me is that in October 1940, when Greece entered the war, it was a relatively stable society with a relatively, for that time, functional state that could mobilize (the army) at a satisfactory level. By April '41, the state had entirely collapsed. When you go into a war, you never know what will happen and what consequences will follow, and I think this is also true for Gaza at this point in time. There seems to be little thought given to what will follow, but it is almost certain that the law of unintended consequences will apply. This, I think, is a possible message of the film."
Just before the discussion opened up to the audience, the speakers commented on whether modern Greek society is more receptive to reflecting on its past, "even if it means acknowledging uncomfortable truths," as mentioned by Mr. Palavos. Meanwhile, Mr. Kranakis raised the concern that "Greece has a problem with facing its past. I am not particularly optimistic, we have a problematic relationship with our history and we tend to live in the safety of what we learned in school or the fake news we hear, so I think a film like Glory Sky could be shown much more freely if it were released today, but I don't think it would be a success."
A series of questions and comments from the audience followed up on Kanellopoulos’ work and the historical period amidst which it unfolds. During the discussion, one of the movie's actors - starring in one of its most iconic scenes - Giorgos Fourniadis, shared touching stories from his collaboration and the shooting of the film with Takis Kanellopoulos.
In his final remarks, Mr. Mazower placed emphasis on the way through which the movie “maps out the course of the collective experience of war, the building of a ‘new social solidarity’ that binds together everyday people, when the official state structure and institutions are absent.” In addition, he also referred to the great artistic value of the film. “I would like to add that even though our discussion focused mainly on the history and the politics of the time, watching it again tonight, I was struck by some of its other virtues, such as the spectacular narrative use of water and the natural landscape. I bet I’m not the only one who immediately thought of Theo Angelopoulos in the opening sequence of the film with the clouds. All the above are interconnected and this element gives the film its outstanding quality, way beyond its status as a precious historical document.”
