There Was No Other Way

Άλλος δρόμος δεν υπήρχε

Even after the Civil War had ended in the rest of Greece, a small rump of the Democratic Army, six men and two women, remained in hiding for 14 years in Chania, Crete, where they continued to take part in illegal political activity. In 1962, six of the former partisans escaped, via Italy, to Tashkent. The documentary focuses on the three who are still living. The film reveals the “miraculous” endurance of the broken remnants of the Democratic Army and the self-sacrifice of the ordinary people who hid them. It shows that the main protagonists and the unsung heroes of this story are equally exceptional, embodying not just ideology, but a deep dedication to mankind and human dignity.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Stavros Psillakis
Script: Stavros Psillakis
Cinematography: Christos Asimakopoulos
Editing: Yorgos Triantafyllou
Sound: Anastasis Efentakis
Music: Vangelis Fampas
Producers: Stavros Psillakis
Co-production: Greek Film Centre, ERT SA, Massive Productions, Indigo View
Narration: Panos Kyparissis
Format: DCP
Color: Color
Production Country: Greece
Production Year: 2009
Duration: 87'
Contact: Stavros Psillakis (stavrospsill@gmail.com)
Awards/Distinctions: Best Documentary – Hellenic Film Academy Awards 2010, 1st Prize for a Feature Film (Competition Section) – 3rd Hellenic Documentary FF of Chalkida 2009, Audience Prize – 2nd Cyprus International Documentary and Animated FF 2009

Stavros Psillakis

Stavros Psillakis was born in Chania, Crete, in 1954. He is a director and producer of anthropological documentaries that usually focus on borderline situations of human existence. He first studied Electrical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens and then Film Directing at the Hantzikou Film School (Athens). He received a scholarship from the French state to study Anthropological Documentary Filmmaking at the VARAN School in Paris. He was honored with many awards, such as the 1st Documentary Film Award of the Hellenic Film Academy in 2010 for the documentary There Was No Other Way. He is a founding member of the Hellenic Film Academy and the Hellenic Documentary Association, and he has worked on films by Lakis Papastathis, Dimos Theou, and Stavros Tornes. His rich filmography counting more than 40 films, includes the documentaries The Man Who Disturbed the Universe, METAXA listening to Time, Olympia, Short Gypsy Stories, The Light Inside, as well as the trilogy FOR NO REASONS meetings with Yorgos Maniatis, Debt, and FAREWELL The Memory of the Land.

Filmography

2000 The Man Who Disturbed the Universe
2009 There Was No Other Way
2011 120 Milonogianni, Chania (TV) 2012 METAXA Listening to Time
2013 Dilemma (TV)
2014 Short Gypsy Stories
2015 Olympia (short)
2015 The Light Inside
2019 FOR NO REASONS Meetings with Yorgos Maniatis
2020 My Photograph (short)
2021 Debt
2022 FAREWELL The Memory of the Land