Attempting a conversation with Elefsina and its landscapes, while simultaneously revisiting eight emblematic documentaries, the Festival will transform the train tracks at the Old Railway Station and the Old Olive Mill Parking, two locations of particular aesthetics and importance in terms of history and the every-changing environment of Elefsina, into open-air cinemas, giving the city’s residents and visitors an unforgettable artistic experience.
Drawing its themes from the entire spectrum of realistic documentation, archaeology, history, ethnography to the environment and ecology, the summer edition of the Documentary Festival is a precursor to the action Cine Eleusis: IN SITU realities,which will be hosted, starting in the fall of 2023, in the historic Eleusis cinema, the first—in view of the 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture—indoor hall hosting performing and cinematic artistic events.
The Festival is being held this summer on a pilot basis and with free admission, in collaboration with the Athens International Film Festival, which organizes Athens International Film Festival and the Athens Open Air Film Festival.
A few words about Mystery 23_Cine Eleusis: IN SITU realities
Mystery 23_Cine Eleusis: IN SITU realities is inspired by the unique characteristics of Elefsina as an emblematic historical site and a modern industrial urban landscape, and focuses on the thematic axes of 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture regarding the connection of humans with society and the environment. In Elefsina, in this place of contrasts, where, today, the inevitable reflections of the ancient and industrial past and the human mosaic of modern history meet the necessary visions for a more ecological future, a persistent dialogue is cultivated. And it is these inherent contrasts—overt and hidden—in its body that constantly invite and inspire every cinematic gaze that dares to turn on the city.
The aim of Mystery 23_Cine Eleusis: IN SITU realities is to transform Elefsina into a valuable and mysterious exhibit, through the unexpected conversation between cinematic viewing and the natural setting that hosts it, and the transformation of a series of screenings into a site-specific artistic action. The selection of films and screening locations follows the logic of visual intervention, the reimagination of a space as a hospitable point of culture.
