11 March 2016, 18:00, Birkbeck Cinema

Film: Mourning Rock [Agelastos Petra], Filippos Koutsaftis, Greece, 2000, digital, 87 minutes, Greek with English subtitles
 
“The film was shot over the course of ten years. It documents the destruction of the archaeological sites, the political goings-on, the rescue excavations, and the people of Eleusis who still remember those parts of history. The only constant ‘hero’ of this film is a homeless man who has been retrieving antiquities for the archaeological service from dump sites and construction landfills- where they were dumped by building companies so that the archaeological service couldn’t interfere with the building process. Agelastos Petra (the ‘mourning rock’ of the film’s title) was where Demeter first came to mourn the loss of her daughter Persephone. The symbolism behind this loss has acquired a new meaning with the destruction of Eleusis; that of a destroyed and lost past.” (Museums of Greece) [Link: https://greek-museums.tumblr.com/post/101235599476] 

This screening was followed by a discussion with Gabriel Koureas (Birkbeck, History of Art), Eleni Liarou (Birkbeck, Film, Media and Cultural Studies) and Maria Aristodemou (Birkbeck, Law). The event was introduced by Janet McCabe and Silke Arnold-de Simine (Birkbeck Interdisciplinary Research in Media and Culture), as part of their “Ruins” research project. [Link: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/birmac/about/]