Washington, February 6: Screening of "Raw Material" at the Avalon

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From: "HR-Net News Distribution Manager" <dist@hri.org>

Originally From: Zoe Kosmidou <zkosmidou at greekculture.us>

The Embassy of Greece in collaboration with the Greek Film Center

presents

On WEDNESDAY, Feb 6 @ 8:00 PM

RAW MATERIAL (Proti Yli)

Screened in competition at Europe's prestigious Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

78 min * Dolby Digital * in Greek with English subtitles * 2011

Directed by Christos Karakepelis

"Director Christos Karakepelis has created a very artful, but also very humane, film. The environment is observed with a steady gaze, and the people's lives are expressed eloquently, through sensitive observation and revealing voice-overs. As the film progresses, it gains a bigger and more haunting power..."

-- Bill Mousoulis, Neoskosmos.com

Synopsis:

The famous Acropolis affords a view of one of the most poverty-stricken districts in Athens. This improvised shantytown is home to a diverse community of people who subsist on collecting discarded metal. Before the sun is up, they set out in their little three-wheel trucks for the streets of the metropolis. Then, at the end of the day, they take the old fridges, televisions, spring-wire mattresses and all other conceivable kinds of metal refuse to the city’s scrapyards; with their meagre earnings they return home to their families, hoping that the new day will bring a richer haul. Director Christos Karakepelis spent six years putting this film together and thus offers the viewer an utterly authentic perspective on the lives of people for whom, as one of them described it, scrap metal is both their "treasure and mistress.? This impressive documentary, with its wealth of compelling footage, in spite of its theme maintains a serene atmosphere throughout and dispenses with all traces of cheap sentiment. Its impact is thus all the more powerful.

About the Director:

Born in 1962. He studied social sciences and film directing. He has written scripts for documentaries and has also directed documentary series for television. Since 2006, works for SKAI TV, directing journalistic enquires that focus on contemporary political and social circumstances all over the world. His first feature film was "The House of Cain".

Awards - Distinctions

* First Prize at Nyon International Documentary Festival "Visions du Reel" (Switzerland)

* Audience Award at Munich International Documentary Festival

* FIPRESCI prize at Thessaloniki International Film Festival

* Best Greek Film Award by the Panhellenic Union of Film Critics

* 2nd prize at Kalamata International Documentary Festival

* The film participated at Berlinale’s ?Forum?, at Karlovy Vary and in many other festivals all over the world.

The Avalon Theatre
5612 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20015
202-966-6000
info at theavalon.org

For more information and next screenings visit: http://www.theavalon.org/programs-events/panorama-of-greek-cinema/

Our blog: http://greekcultureintheus.blogspot.com Twitter : @GreekCultureUs And Facebook: facebook.com/GreekCultureUS

Zoe Kosmidou, Ph.D.
Minister Counselor
Cultural Affairs
Embassy of Greece
and USA Office Director
Hellenic Foundation for Culture
2217 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008

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