In spite of the times, the Castellorizo Documentary Festival continues to give a dynamic “presence” in the border island of our country, as the people, locals and visitors, have embraced it all these years. The challenges, due to the pandemic, are many but as the Festival’s Artistic Director, Mrs Irini Sarioglou, says in her interview to grtraveller, “the good captain is seen in the storm”.

This is the 6th time that the Documentary Festival is being held in Kastellorizo, which despite the pandemic continues to attract the

interest of the public with a record number of participants every year.

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What is the call of this year’s festival to the world?

The global adverse conditions brought about by the pandemic have affected us all without exception. However, we did indeed have a lot of entries this year. In particular, 567 submissions were sent from 50 different countries, from which the 27 best documentary films were selected to form the competitive part of the Festival. This is a very high quality documentary. Of course, a variety of parallel actions will also take place in the framework of the event. I think people understand the seriousness and quality of the organisation, that’s why they trust it and help it to evolve constantly.

Every year the Festival is enriched, but what remains the same is our goal “to bring people to Kastellorizo and to take Kastellorizo to the ends of the earth”.

We therefore invite the world to our beautiful island, which must take the place it deserves on a national and cultural level.

Will it have the “flavor” of a national anniversary of the 200th anniversary of the nation’s Revolution?

This year the Festival is under the auspices of the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou. The programme has been shaped accordingly, in order to commemorate the ^200th anniversary of the beginning of the Greek Revolution. It is worth mentioning that the exhibition of the National Historical Museum entitled: “The Aegean in Flames”, which will be hosted at the Municipal Hall of Megisti, presenting reproductions from the Collections and the Historical Documents Archive of the museum, on the subject of the naval struggle of the Greeks. In addition, on the island of St. George, a theatrical performance will take place on the unknown contribution of Constantine Polychroniadis to the promotion of the Greek Revolution, thus presenting the latest, recent publication of the Hellenic Foundation for Historical Studies (H.H.I.S.ME.). The excellent film by Panos Thomaidis, which will be screened at the Opening Ceremony of the Festival, concerns Spetses during the period of the Liberation Struggle. Also, the opening and closing concerts are dedicated to the concept of Freedom.

Tell us about the opening and closing ceremony of the Festival. What will visitors enjoy?

At the opening ceremony of the Festival the excellent film of Panos Thomaidis will be screened: “Spetses 21′, At the Crossroads of History”, while the evening will be completed with the musical tribute “And we have at our mast the everlasting Sun the Eliator” (Odysseas Elytis) with the great singer, Morpho Tsaireli, the composer-pianist Andreas Anagnostopoulos and the renowned musicians, who will accompany them. The curtain will fall with the concert of Vassilis Yisdakis (collaborator and performer of Manos Hadjidakis), as well as the music ensemble “Argonauts”, after the screening of the excellent documentary film by Michel Noll (Co-organizer of the Festival) and his collaborator David Forbes entitled: “The Cradock Murders” {South Africa, France, 2010, 52′}.

What is the biggest challenge for you for this year’s event?

I think the biggest challenge is the pandemic and the adverse conditions it has brought about worldwide. However, with passion, love and passion for what we do, we face every difficulty. You know, the good captain in the storm seems to be…

Cinema takes us on a journey…The Festival becomes an excuse for people to visit the island of Kastellorizo and what are the visitors’ impressions of both the Festival and the island?

I think that this beautiful island, which for years was in a parenthesis in the tourist catalogues, has not yet taken the place it deserves. During the Festival the place comes alive. The event serves as a small “spiritual beacon” for locals and visitors alike. Every year it becomes the trigger for Greeks and foreigners, renowned professionals of the film industry, as well as ordinary visitors to get to know Kastellorizo and its history. But what is important is that through all the screenings and intellectual events we promote the “we” of Makriyannis.