The discussion titled “The Invasion of Panos H. Koutras in Greek Cinema” took place on Thursday morning, November 7th, at the Pavlos Zannas theater, kicking off the all-day event dedicated to Panos H. Koutras, titled “The Attack of the Giant Cinema of Panos H. Koutras” and curated by Eva Stefani. Film scholars and University of Athens assistant professors Rea Valden, Afroditi Nikolaidou, and Anna Pouppou, together with UoA’s students Eri Pasalimanioti, Konstantinos Sarantis, and Rafael Souliotis, delved into Panos H. Koutras’ cinema, examining the themes in his work as well as his contribution and influence on the future of Greek cinema, through four video-collages. The colloquium is organized by the Festival in collaboration with the Department of Communication & Media Studies and the Department of Digital Arts & Cinema of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and it is part of the tribute hosted by the 65th TIFF to the pioneering and unconventional Greek filmmaker, titled “The Real Cinema of Panos H. Koutras.” The discussion was moderated by Vasilis Terzopoulos, the Greek Program coordinator of the Thessaloniki Film Festival.
The Festival’s artistic director, Orestis Andreadakis, welcomed the audience, prefacing the discussion: “We kick off today’s marathon, a day entirely dedicated to the cinema of Panos H. Koutras. We will attempt, through a series of events, screenings, and discussions, to join in on the artist’s alternative path, to determine, to learn, and to recall all the amazing moments that this daring filmmaker has captured on celluloid. This tribute is organized in collaboration with the University of Athens, more specifically the Department of Communication & Media Studies and the Department of Digital Arts & Cinema, and Eva Stefani, who unfortunately couldn’t be here with us today due to illness,” he initially stated, then directed a personal message to Panos H. Koutras: “All these years, this entire journey has resonated within me, shaped me, moved me, and once again, I thank you,” he concluded his statement.
Next, the discussion’s moderator, Vasilis Terzopoulos, shared Eva Stefani’s message as she could not be present at the event, and welcomed the speakers: “A conversation with words and images about the work of Panos H. Koutras. Encounters of realism with the bizarre, queer- inclusive approach, carnivalesque reversals, and intertextual dialogues include some of the themes we will be delving into today,” he initially stated. He later invited the students to take the floor, and they presented their work to the audience: "We are delighted to be here on this very special day, and we would like to thank Eva Stefani, and our teachers Rea Valden, Afroditi Nikolaidou, and Anna Pouppou, in particular. Our project takes the form of a cinematic dialogue with the work of our beloved Panos H. Koutras. We watched his films numerous times, pulled several all-nighters editing, and we finally settled on the three axes of “Intertextualities, Localities, and Tenderness,” which we elaborated on, creating three video essays,” Rafael Souliotis said. “Nearly automatically, the desire to make something of our own was born, and we wanted it to encompass the universe, the characters, and all that we loved from the films of Panos H. Koutras,” Eri Pasalimanioti added, commenting on the fourth video, which was screened shortly afterwards.
The discussion began with the teachers Rea Valden, Afroditi Nikolaidou, and Anna Pouppou sharing their own approach to the work of this great Greek filmmaker. Afroditi Nikolaidou first took the floor, providing an analysis on the most prevalent trends in the audiovisual industry during the 1990s so as to place his cinema in the right context. “In The Attack of the Giant Moussaka, it’s as if he causes our conditioned responses to the film and television genres of the time to short-circuit, by embracing satire and parody, and the same happens to the critique of popular culture. What emerged through our discussion, both with Eva Stefani and with the students, is that Panos H. Koutras chooses a more carnivalesque approach to genre, culture and writing, which releases us from the fear and pomposity that imprison and immobilize us," he said.
“Panos H. Koutras’ cinema offers us the joy of transformation. And that has a lot to do with how he constructs a joyful intertextual dialogue, that is, which literary and cinematic works he chooses to engage in conversation in a certain manner. Anything out of the box now gains visibility, while what was already visible is placed in a different, non-canonical, alternative context. The other element of this intertextuality is the great emphasis placed on melodrama, a genre that I personally love. As a result, I identify very much with Panos' films in this aspect. It is a genre defined by a radical ambiguity, usually instilled with a feminine, often maudlin, connotation, and it also possesses a tremendous transformative power. All these variations of rhythm, extravagance and the surprise aesthetic capture a structure of human experience that contrasts with monolithicity, plasticity and conventionality," he added.
Subsequently, Anna Pouppou took the floor: “I chose the subject matter of space and location, a spatial prism, so I provided a starting point and some ideas that originated primarily from the urban setting, but I'm very happy because the students took it that much further, adding other themes such as travel and transition. I think the image that automatically comes to mind is that of a moussaka creeping and rattling through the streets of Athens, an image that reflects the subversive gaze of Panos H. Koutras, and his sacrilegious attitude towards elements pertaining to national identity and national memory. Beyond the symbolic locations, then, the next level is the real-literal settings and the realism in these films, an element that has not perhaps been showcased as much, as the spectacle is what steals the show. However, we see that very frequently the heroes' stories are launched when they experience various forms of social violence. For example, Strella starts with a release from prison. Other times, the public sphere is depicted as a threat to the protagonists: we witness homophobic and racist attacks by the political party, Golden Dawn, in Xenia, which was released in 2014 at a time when the far-right was on the rise. But aside from these more negative and violent forms, we also get a sense of the real and actual locations. We feel that the city interacts with the characters, who in turn react with their environment," she said.
Immediately afterwards, she added: "The most interesting element is that the realm of the bizarre invades the realistic. We are not dealing with two different worlds. It's as though the gates between realism and the imaginary remain open, and somehow transform reality itself. In this climate, I think many of the scenes in his films could serve as examples of magical realism. The realm of the imaginary includes all these bizarre entities, the monsters, the moussaka, the squirrels in Strella, anything that represents otherness, an otherness that is transformative for reality. Ultimately, through this fusion of the real and the imaginary, I would say that the element that makes Panos H. Koutras' films so different from one another is their optimism and utopian outlook. This capacity to envision something different or something inconceivable seems to be a response to a lack of imagination or an inability to think in a different-alternative way, an unfortunate condition that reigns in contemporary cinema, and which ultimately indicates a preference for catastrophizing. This is where the power of Panos H. Koutras' films lies, in the fact that they propose alternative utopian communities, creating inclusive spaces that fit all of us, irrespective of gender.”
Rea Valden, before sharing her own perspective on the work of Panos H. Koutras, she expressed her solidarity and support for the Palestinian people. She then referred to the work of Panos H. Koutras. "The first point is the breakdown of pomposity, placed somewhere between the carnivalesque and the camp. Essentially, his films are commentaries on the state of affairs. If you pay attention to when the films are released in conjunction with recent Greek history, you'll notice some rather fascinating correlations. Furthermore, diversity and heterogeneity start from gender identity and extend to other fields, while the distinctive feature is that heterogeneity is presented as the norm. The fictional element, in terms of imagery, has something reminiscent of a child's game and a child's dream. The feeling I get from Panos' films is tenderness, which is why I suggested that the students should work on this axis and look for a tenderness communicating with the child that we carry within us, the one that we protect, the one that we rediscover through the relationships we forge. Also, the films are full of blatant and pervasive sexuality, but simultaneously one observes a tenderness towards the characters, who are never looked down upon by the film. There is an understanding, a placement on the same level. At this point, I would like to offer my interpretation of this tenderness that permeates the cinema of Panos H. Koutras; it is, in fact, the origin of a political stance."
Afterwards, the students shared the three video essays titled Intertextualities, Tenderness, and Localities, respectively, that they had prepared with the audience, and after their screening, the panel welcomed Panos H. Koutras, who stated: " You are all familiar with the expression ‘you made my day.’ You quite literally made my day, my entire month, my upcoming years! It was something exceptional, and thank you so much. I would also like to thank the three wonderful women who spoke so beautifully about me. As I was listening to what was being said, I was reflecting upon the fact that the biggest role throughout my life, as paradoxical as it may sound, has been played by women. Your words were a great joy and I was very touched, because most of my films - it's something that people here know - I filmed them with great effort, but I never really took them seriously. But I see now that there is something serious within them and I would like to thank you for revealing this to me," he said, expressing his gratitude to the teachers and students for their work.
Replying to questions on the subjects of where he sees himself in Greek cinema, the importance of costume design in his films and what he considers to be the most authentic moment in his work, Panos H. Koutras said: "I was a hyperactive child and when my parents discovered that the moving image made me settle down, they took me to the cinema all the time. I usually admire filmmakers who create films that I could never, like Robert Bresson, for example, who I honestly cannot fathom how he managed to make his films. In Greece, since we don't have a large-scale film industry, I usually shoot one film every five years, incorporating many personal components, ideas and fixations. In Strella, for example, I did something very personal despite not being a trans person or abused as a child. I don't think I can pick just one film though, there's something I consider very much my own in all of them. In every film there is a character that is entertaining, Dean in Moussaka, Theocharis in Strella and so on, but in general I have a passion for Marlene Dietrich, who has blonde hair and blonde eyebrows, she is the first in my pantheon, she is, for me, the picture of the saint or the devil, a picture that keeps resurfacing." At this point, Afroditi Nikolaidou referred to the futuristic element that dominates the work of Panos H. Koutras: "His films are like they are ahead, as if they have anticipated what is happening or is about to happen. His films depict characters we had never seen on screen before, at least not in such an effortless way and with such a natural feel. His films seem to take place in a future already realized."
Then, the students of the University of Athens presented the fourth and last video they directed, explaining to Panos H. Koutras the creative process behind its creation: "The scene with Strella in Omonia, as well as the one with the father in the room, the drinks and all the colours, was the image that was primarily engraved in our minds. That was how we thought to celebrate femininity as you do, but colored with slightly darker shades, in line with our own context and our own experiences. We wanted to address the notions of gender transition and nurturing, as you nurture your characters and as they, in turn, nurture one another," said Konstantinos Sarantis, while Rafael Souliotis shared a conversation he had with the video's protagonist: “When we explained to Gia, our protagonist, what we wanted her to do, she confided in us that before her gender reassignment, her trans friends in London would make her wear dresses, and that’s when she first started to truly feel like herself. That conversation made us think that the video has to reflect Gia's perspective and that of every other girl in her position," he stated. "The final outcome was the result of a series of intense and grueling questions similar to ‘why do it this way and not the other way.’ Ultimately, we kept thinking that the takeaway from your films should be this broad and all-encompassing sense of solidarity," Eri Pasalimanioti added.
Towards the event’s finale, the audience shared their thoughts and questions with the panel and the filmmaker. When asked whether his cinema has any affiliation with the new queer cinema and whether he places himself in the category in question, Panos H. Koutras replied: “I don’t necessarily place myself there, however everyone else does. I was always somewhat more solitary in filmmaking, not in the maudlin sense, but merely because my films have always been a solitary process despite having an affinity with the whole queer culture. It's a very powerful culture that has yet to be explored, and studied in depth, so, yes, I do feel simultaneously part of this community," the great Greek filmmaker concluded.
