THE WORK

A small journey into the wonderful world of Byzantine illustration.

I dived deep, starting with a documentary dedicated to Fotis Kontoglou. Meeting his daughter, Despo Kontoglou and her husband Yannis Martinos was decisive for my decision to make the documentary.

I started the research in the library of the Theological School with the help of Anastasia Efthymiou, a postgraduate student in Byzantine Archaeology. I identified sources for bibliography and places to study. I met hagiographers, dealers in hagiography items, visited museums and mostly read texts by Fotis Kontoglou.

Then a friend, experienced in documentaries, joined me. The original idea was to give our camera and microphone the ability to climb scaffolding, visit hagiographers' workplaces and record their own attitude towards living Byzantine painting. While shaping the script, we came to the conclusion that the film is more interested in approaching today's personal stories related to Byzantine art. This is how we chose thematic sections with the corresponding faces and structured the film:

• First the introduction of the documentary with a few touches from our recent history in the Asia Minor Campaign and Occupation
• A small tribute to the traces left by Fotis Kontoglou with the help of the writer and painter Giorgos Kordis, as well as with the testimonies of his daughter and the son-in-law of Mr. Fotis
• We traveled together with Giorgos Kordis to Kolokythia, a small village near Lamia where we recorded the iconography of a small holy church. Unforgettable experience of mixing the hagiography crew with our film crew
• Acquaintance and recording of the special way of working and livelihood of two brothers, Angelos and Alexandros Alibertis, who combine the construction of karagioz figures in the shadow theater, as well as the iconography of holy churches with the Byzantine system
• The visit to the Byzantine icon conservation workshop of Michael Larentzakis in Chalkida

We discovered the joy that Byzantine illustration offers to people who have dedicated themselves with passion and at the same time we saw their livelihood through it.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

George Kordis
Lecturer at the School of Theology of the University of Athens in the History field and the Iconography course (Theory & Practice). Author and hagiographer.

Dimitrios Constantios
Director of the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens, General Secretary of the Christian Archaeological Society, member of the Chamber of Fine Arts, PhD Univ. of the Aegean, Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, Ph.D. Univ. of Ioannina at the School of Philosophy, graduate of Univ. of Ioannina (Classical Studies), Graduate Univ. of Athens (History and Archaeology).

Pantelis V. Paschos
Emeritus professor of the Theological School of the University of Athens in the field of Hagiology and Hymnology, author of essays and literary texts, acquaintance of F. Kontoglou with specialization in his work.

Archpriest Georgios Ch. Efthimiou
Lecturer at the School of Theology of the University of Athens in the Department of Theology, Department of Social Theology, Department of Canon Law and Byzantine Theology from the 9th century and Biblical Studies and Mediterranean cultural life.

Anastasia G. Efthymiou
Graduated in Byzantine Archaeology.

The first version of the 68-minute long documentary was screened at Doc Market of the THESSALONIKI DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL – 21st CENTURY IMAGES in March 2008.