This text was originally published at the website of the Thessaloniki Film Festival at http://www.filmfestival.gr/2000/press/interviews1_uk.html, but disappeared a year afterwards. If anybody of the copyright owners minds me publishing it here for the use of Angelopoulos΄ fans, please contact me and I΄ll delete it. Chris

As the director said in the press conference he gave today in the framework of the 41st Thessaloniki Film Festival, his intention is to let himself work based on the emotions he will receive from the actors and the realities of the surroundings where the shooting will take place.

The director and President of the Festival spoke about the trilogy of which he is in search of a title. The first film of the trilogy will be entitled "The weeping land" taken from a short story by Tonino Guerra. The film will be shot in Greece and will cover the period from 1919, when the Red Army invaded Odessa, to 1949 with the end of the civil war. The second film titled "The third wing", taken from one of his poems, will cover the period from 1913-1971 and will be shot in countries previously in the USSR, that is, Uzbekistan, Russia and the cities of the Volga river, Siberia and others. The third film titled "The eternal return" will refer to the period from 1972 to the present and will be shot in the U.S.A.

The director honored by this year's Festival added that the story he wanted to narrate was way to large and he initially thought of fitting it in a three hour film. This though, created gaps and deficiencies in the sense of deficient speech. When the French proposal for a trilogy arose, Angelopoulos hesitated because it would take too long and as he characteristically said he counted the days of life. The ideas that followed, though, were increasingly tempting which is why he finally decided to accept the proposal. One of these ideas was to incorporate Sophocle's cycle of Thebes allowing it to work unobtrusively in the background and not as the framework. "The ancient Greek myths reside in us and since they do, we reside in them", he said. On the same topic, he referred to the film "The Reconstitution" where the motive was a modern event taken from newspapers, but when the film was finished he realized that the reference to the myth of "Agamemnon" was apparent.

"It's alright to make archaic films with actors wearing tunics as long as you let the film establish a connection between the dramatic of the past with the dramatic of the present, since human experiences remain unchanged throughout time", said the director.

As far as the "epic framework" prevalent in many of his films, he noted that he attempts to embody the personal into a broader dimension, saying that "I breathe in epic terms, this is my fate".

In reference to the topic of Greek consciousness and the recent debate about its preservation, Theo Angelopoulos defined "identity" with the term "language" and "our mothers' language".

He also stated that he has nothing to fear since he has an identity, and that "those who feel threatened aren't actually defending their identities but actually working for the vested interests of others.

When asked which of his films he held special, he answered "The Reconstitution" as his "first love", "first adventure", a film as the "discovery" of Greece, of "inner" Greece, not known to those born in Athens.

In reference to an older statement of his that "Eternity and a Day" would be his last film, and answering to a question about his creative reserves, Theo Angelopoulos revealed that despite the plan for the new trilogy, he is hesitant: "I wonder if there are any words I haven't spoken. Is there anyone who can sell me words? Modern day reality is a flat scene, a "Landscape in the Mist". By attempting this project, which has an enormous budget for European standards, I will search for these words. I hope to find them."

Finally, Theo Angelopoulos spoke about the grand tribute of the 41st Film Festival, and answered questions about the objections regarding the fact that as President of the Festival he is being honored by it. As he said, similar retrospectives have been presented at numerous foreign film festivals but never in Greece. Therefore, when the Festival asked him to collaborate on it he found it rather normal. "It's not the Festival honoring me but me honoring the Festival", said the director.

This text was originally published at the website of the Thessaloniki Film Festival at http://www.filmfestival.gr/2000/press/interviews1_uk.html, but disappeared a year afterwards. If anybody of the copyright owners minds me publishing it here for the use of Angelopoulos΄ fans, please contact me and I΄ll delete it. Chris