From June 10th until September, the 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture, in collaboration with the Peloponnisos International Documentary Festival, presents Mystery 168 Mobile Solar Cinema, a contemporary traveling cinema that, starting from Elefsina, travels throughout the Western Attica to convey a strong environmental message.
Traditionally, itinerant cinemas used to tour the countryside showing screenings in open-air spaces in remote areas, they did not have the sole purpose of entertaining residents without access to movie theaters but the mission of conveying messages and information. Solar World Cinema, the international network of traveling cinemas that operate exclusively on solar energy, is doing exactly the same today. It visits Elefsina of industrial development and acute environmental issues, Aspropyrgos, Mandra, Megara, projecting an environmental message regarding renewable energy sources, sustainable cinema and green technologies. Its aim is to raise concerns about the environment and the identity of the wider region of Western Attica, to attempt to compose ecological messages using audiovisual media in a creative and original way.
For 12 nights in total, cinephiles and not only will have the opportunity to watch award-winning films, Greek and international productions, some of which are shown for the first time, and to talk with renowned directors, academics and professionals. At the same time, the “ecological” project of these film screenings is accompanied by a series of seminars – workshops with an environmental axis for children and teenagers aged 7 – 15, which draw their inspiration from the history of Elefsina, its industrial character and the Holy Mysteries of the ancient world.
The project is supported by the Region of Attica, while it is carried out in collaboration with the Municipalities of Aspropyrgos, Mandra-Idyllia & Megara, and the Cultural Association of Megara “Theognis”.
The entire mobile cinema equipment is powered by 100% solar energy. The solar cinema can travel to any area and is completely self-sufficient.
Screening schedule
SATURDAY JUNE 10
ELEFSINA, OLD RAILWAY STATION *
Journey to Utopia (Premiere)
Director/screenplay: Erlend E. Mo
Duration 89′
Invited speaker: Eva Stefani, Director – Professor EKPA
The progressive Mo family lead a perfect life on their farm in Norway. But recently, anxiety and fear about the planet they will bequeath to their children has been keeping them awake at night. Taking a giant leap of faith, the family decides to take action and move to Permatopia, a new, self-sufficient, organic cooperative in Denmark.
SUNDAY JUNE 11
ELEFSINA, ROAD SAFETY PARK *
Dear future children
Directed by: Franz Böhm
Duration: 89′
Guest speaker: Agis Emmanuel, Director – Runner
With global protests on the rise, Dear Future Children follows the new generation at the center of a major political shift. The stories of Rayen, who claims social justice in Chile, Pepper who fights for democracy in Hong Kong, and Hilda, who fights against the devastating consequences of climate change in Uganda, compose a mosaic of ecological awakening and social justice.
FRIDAY JUNE 16
MEGARA, RAILWAY STATION *
Into the Ice (Premiere)
Directed by: Lars Henrik Ostenfeld
Duration: 85′
The ice at the earth’s poles is melting, the sea level is gradually rising and the consequences are predicted to be terrifying for the planet and the world. The camera travels with three pioneering explorers on their foray into Greenland’s snowy interior, observes and chronicles them.
SATURDAY JUNE 17
ASPROPYRGOS, AGROKIPIOU OPEN THEATER *
Digger
Directed by: Tzortzis Grigorakis
Actors: Vangelis Mourikis, Argyris Pantazaras, Sofia Kokkali
Duration: 101′
Guest speaker: Tzortzis Grigorakis, Director
Nikitas lives secluded in a mountain forest, which is threatened by the aggressive expansion of an industrial plant. The tone will be raised even more with the sudden arrival of his son, who claims the share of the estate he inherited from his mother. A contemporary western of recent Greek fiction.
SUNDAY JUNE 18
MANDRA, ST. EKATERINIS PRIVATE *
2040 (Premiere)
Director/Screenplay: Damon Gameau
Duration 92′
Invited speaker: Nikos Hatziargyriou, Professor Emeritus NTUA
A groundbreaking documentary that highlights the importance of ecological action today, focusing on the alternatives that already exist to address the challenges of climate change. The aim is to ensure a beautiful future through the adoption of technological innovations in everyday life, which seem to have the potential to reverse the critical environmental situation by 2040.
FRIDAY JULY 21
MEGARA, ALSOUS THEOGNIDOS THEATER
Eating Our Way to Extinction (Premiere)
Directed by: Otto Brockway & Ludo Brockway
Duration: 80′
On our way to extinction, a hard-hitting and visually spectacular documentary, conveys the shocking testimonies and painful descriptions of indigenous people, who are already affected by the ongoing climate change. The truths recorded in the documentary can awaken, before it is already too late.
SATURDAY 22 JULY
MANDRA, FIELD PLATE RACHIS
Barricade – Road barrier
Director, screenplay: David Klammer
Duration: 83′
A documentary about the occupation of the Dannenrod forest in Hesse, which ended in December 2020. Through the recording of the daily life of the activists in the forest and their impetuous claim for better climate conditions, a spark of hope for a better future is born.
SUNDAY 23 JULY
ASPROPYRGOS, METROPOLITAN PARK OF GORITSA
Plastic pioneers (Premiere)
Directed by: Mike Wafer
Duration: 84′
Guest speaker: Stathis Galazoulas, Director
A wake-up call and inspiration to action. An invitation to travel to the coral reefs, to those places where sharks and seabirds congregate, so that viewers realize the enormous danger of the scourge of plastic that overwhelms every aspect of modern life.
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 9 | ELEFSINA, VLYCHA*
Darwin’s nightmare
Director/screenplay: Hubert Sauper
Duration: 107′
Guest speaker: Aris Fatouros, Director-Program Advisor of VOULI Television
In the heart of Africa, about 20 years ago, a new animal species was introduced into Lake Victoria, as part of a scientific experiment. The Nile perch proved so aggressive that soon all the other fish in the lake disappeared. Today, Nile perch is exported around the world, while its trade is framed by the illegal arms trade for the countless wars fought in the dark heart of the African continent.
SUNDAY SEP 10 | ELEFSINA, OLD RAILWAY STATION*
The Last Forest (premiere)
Directed by Luiz Bolognesi
Duration: 74′
Guest speaker: Theodora Nantsou, WWF Representative
With powerful scenes – alternating between observation, fixed sections and intense soundscapes – Luiz Bolognesi records the daily life of the indigenous Yanomami community and depicts the threatened environment, the Amazon rainforest, in which they live.
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 16 | ELEFSINA, OASIS
The Last Human – The Last Human (premiere)
Directed by: Ivalo Frank
Duration: 73′
Guest Speaker: Ivalo Frank, Director
Life on Earth begins and ends with Greenland. Researcher Minnick Rosing’s landmark discovery of the first form of life contrasts with the melting ice masses. Ivalo Frank’s tribute to her vast country takes the form of a tribute, acrobatic between two extremes: the beginning and the end of life on Earth as we know it.
SUNDAY SEP 17 | ELEFSINA, OASIS
To the last drop: Europe’s secret water war
Directed by: George Avgeropoulos
Duration: 59′
Invited speaker: George Avgeropoulos, Journalist-Filmmaker
Major European cities – such as Paris and Berlin – have regained public control of their water, rejecting as a failure the private management model they tried for decades. At the same time the European Union is pressuring indebted countries to privatize their own public water supply systems. Between corporate and public interests, between lobbies and EU policies, Europe’s unknown water war is unfolding.
Educational activities for children and young people
The film screenings are complemented by educational activities organized by professionals in the field of environmental education.
THE CIRCLES OF LIFE – Painting/Photography Workshop depicting the cycles of life and nature in the region of Western Attica.
Through painting, photography or drawing the participants will illustrate in small groups cycles of life and nature in the area: e.g. cycles involving plant reproduction, the use and recycling of a glass bottle or the seasonal movement of birds.
A LETTER FROM THE ENVIRONMENT – Workshop for Creating Letters to the Environment
What would environmental elements such as trees, buildings, animals, garbage write in a letter to tell people about their lives? What would they depict on the postcards they would send together? Participants will write the letters in groups and with the artistic medium of a camera they will capture images of the lives of these elements.
AN ENVIRONMENTAL WALK – Thematic Nature Walks on ecology, natural resources and energy.
A nature walk will be the opportunity to discuss ecology, natural resources and energy. Using a camera as a tool, the participants in small groups will be asked to record pieces of the nature that surrounds us (earth, animals, vegetation) and to wonder about the two-way and binding relationship between man and the environment.
MICROCOSMOS – Photography workshop based on the basic use of a phone or tablet to capture the surrounding space.
After a short introduction, the children, one by one or divided into twos or threes, and with the active and continuous participation of the supervisor, in the space where we are, we record by photographing the microcosm that is next to us, at our feet, whether it is a plant or a form of life [ insect, invertebrate etc]
