Daily Projections of documentaries about the poets: C. P. Cavafy, A. Sikelianos, C. Varnalis and A. Embirikos
A documentary about the persona of the great Greek surrealist poet Andreas Embirikos (1901-1975) through the eyes of psychologists (Froso Karapanou), poets (George Likos and Nanos Valaoritis) and professors (Giorgis Giatromanolakis). This interdisciplinary approach tries to decode both the psychoanalytical and poetic work of Embirikos, who was the first representative of Surrealism in Greece. His own voice reading his texts and poems, the unpublished photographic material and the manuscript of ”Texts or Personal Mythology” (1960) are composing the mosaic of his portrait.
Director: Mary Koutsouri
Arrangement of Production: Christoforos Mourikis
Production Assistant: Eleutheria Kapokaki
Music: George Papadakis
Director of Photography: Sirrakos Danalis
Scientific Consultants: Stavros Petsopoulos, Michalis Chrisanthopoulos
Narration-Script: Michalis Chrisanthopoulos
Texts and Poems read by: Andreas Embirikos
Also reads: Alexis Kostalas
An internal production by ET-1
Duration: 53΄
Michael Cacoyannis Foundation specially thanks ERT for giving the permission of the projection of the four documentaries by M. Koutsouri.
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Michael Cacoyannis Foundation -in the line of World Poetry Day- organises a festive event with the title: ‘World Poetry Day at MCF through the directing gaze of Mary Koutsouri’. In addition, there will be projections of four special ERT documentaries about C. P. Cavafy, A. Sikelianos, C. Varnalis and A. Embirikos that are directed by Mary Koutsouri.
The projections on Thursday 21st of March 2013 (19:00) are going to be prefaced by the programmer of the Television Station of the Hellenic Parliament Kostas Alavanos, the author Andreas Staikos and the poet and journalist George Pavrianos. In parallel, from Tuesday 19th of March to Sunday 24th of March 2013 (18:00 – 22:00), daily projections of the documentaries are going to take place at the MCF’s Video-Room.
The director Mary Koutsouri, who is the daughter of the architect Renos Koutsouris and niece of Amalia Fleming, recounts about her life and direction: “Throughout my childhood, I have witnessed the creation and the production of great films, such as Voulgaris’ ‘The Engagement of Anna’ and Liappa’s ‘I Always Remember You Leaving’. Suddenly, the director Nikos Panayotopoulos told me: ‘Mary, you have to work for the cinema and stop being its mascot!’. After these words, I worked for 33 years at the television.”
By the age of 29 years old, I was at BBC. Just before that, I filmed the Greek version of a broadcast about Manolis Andronikos and I worked with the British Channel and its producer Roy Davies. That was the first time that Vergina’s tombs were shot with a camera.
Before my ERT period, I had worked with foreign television channels. I had been earning 9.000 drachmas per day, while other directors had 1.000 drachmas monthly. For shooting a television documentary, I have been too demanding. The 30-year broadcasting of my works always justifies my persistence.
I have tried to give prominence to the work of the great poets, instead of pervading their lives. Priority is their work. I do not know if there is any norm that separates the work and the personal life of an artist. However, I focused on the first part.
I have to be attracted by the personalities, before filming them. This is the one and only condition
for making a filmic tribute to someone. This click that is fired by the instinct.
Nowadays, Mary Koutsouri edits her photographic archive in cooperation with Roula Michailidi, at Mpenaki’s Museum.
