Film co-directed with Niki Giannari / 16mm & HD Video on DCP / b&w and color / 99 minutes / Image & editing: Maria Kourkouta / Sound design: André Fèvre / Poetry: Niki Giannari / Voice-over: Lena Platonos / Production : Maria Kourkouta & Survivance, Greece & France 2016
[GR] Η καθημερινότητα των μεταναστών στον αυτοσχέδιο καταυλισμό της Ειδομένης. Άνθρωποι που περιμένουν στις ουρές για φαγητό, τσάι, νερό, ιατρική περίθαλψη, άνθρωποι που περιμένουν να διαβούν τα σύνορα. Μία μέρα, η Ευρώπη κλείνει τα σύνορά της οριστικά. Οι “κάτοικοι” της Ειδομένης, με τη σειρά τους, καταλαμβάνουν τις γραμμές των εμπορικών τρένων που εξακολουθούν να διασχίζουν τα σύνορα.
[EN] The daily life of migrants in the camp of Idomeni, in Greece. People waiting in queues for food, tea and doctors; waiting to cross the border. One day, Europe closes the West Balkan Route for them once and for all. The «residents» of Idomeni decide, in their turn, to occupy the train tracks, blocking the trains that carry goods across the border.
[FR] La vie quotidienne des réfugiés dans le camp de fortune de Idomeni, en Grèce. En attendant de traverser la frontière : des queues pour manger, pour boire du thé, pour consulter un médecin. Un jour, l’Europe décide de fermer ses frontières une bonne fois pour toutes. Les “habitants” de Idomeni décident, à leur tour, de bloquer les rails qui traversent la frontière.
Festival Prizes
• Best world documentary 2016 – 20th Jihlava International Film Festival –Jihlava – Czech Republic – 2016
Jury statement (Claire Atherton): “People walking, people waiting, standing or sitting, people in groups or people in lines… In this film full of respect and tenderness, images of present cross history, evoke the past and question the future. Spectres are haunting Europe creates a time and a space of interaction between us and the world we are living in.”
• Special mention of the Interfedi Jury – 34th Torino Film Festival – Italy – 2016
Interfedi jury statement (Manuel Disegni, Beppe Valperga, Sergio Velluto): “For its highly topical content and the original form in which it was treated”
• Best feature documentary 2017, Dziga Vertov Award – Chicago International Arthouse Film Festival – USA – 2017
• Secondo premio – IsReal Festival di Cinema del Reale – Nuoro – Italy – 2017
Jury’s statement: “Partial shots of bodies and masses, details and fragments of a suffering humanity, voices demanding dignity. The film shows a corner of Europe in the grip of thousands of blind eyes and deaf ears. As the images scroll across the screen, walking changes in meaning: we feel the human need to go, the angry desire to be recognised, the tragic realisation of one’s own powerlessness. The film refers to the condition of the migrant in every age and place, horrific echoes of 20th century history and beyond. Here the point of view is reversed and our role as spectators and passive citizens, bulimic consumers of images already lost, is questioned.”
Official festival
selections
• 38e Festival international du cinéma méditerranéen – France – 2016
• 20th Jihlava IDFF – Czech Republic – 2016
• 34th Torino FF – Italy – 2016
• Glasgow FF – Scotland – 2017
• DC Independent FF – Washington, USA – 2017
• 15th Filmmor Women’s FF – Istanbul – Turkey
• CPH:DOX Copenhagen IDFF – Copenhagen – Denmark – 2017
• 19th Thessaloniki DFF – Greece – 2017
• Visions du réel IDFF – Nyon – Switzerland – 2017
• 19th Ismailia IFF – Egypt – 2017
• 7th Sicilia Queer New Visions IFF – Italy – 2017
• Lima Independent IFF – Peru – 2017
• FIDBA Buenos Aires IDFF – Argentina – 2017
• Nancy IFF – Nancy – France – 2017
• Etats généraux du film documentaire – Lussas – France – 2017
• Festival du cinéma de Douarnenez – Douarnenez – France – 2017
• DocuFest IDFF – Prizren – Kosovo – 2017
• Alcances DFF – Cadiz – Spain – 2017
• Open City FF – London – United Kingdom – 2017
• Inconvenient Human Rights FF – Vilnius – Lithuania – 2017
• Chicago Arthouse IFF – USA – 2017
• IsReal Festival di Cinema del Reale – Nuoro – Italy – 2017
• 36th Jean Rouch FF – Paris – France – 2017
• DocLisboa – Lisboa – 2017
• 20th RIDM Montréal IDFF – 2017
• Filmer à tout prix – Brussels – 2017
• Festival des 3 Continents – Nantes – 2017
• Miradas Doc – Tenerife – 2018
• Les Inattendus – Lyon – 2018
• Les Rencontres documentaires – Nancy – 2018
• Utopian nights Inside the border – Malta – 2018
• 33rd Panorama of European Cinema – Athens – 2020
Other screenings
• Rote Fabrik – Zurich – Switzerland – 2016
• Parole Errante – Paris – France – 2016
• Forum des Images – Paris – France – 2017
• Cinema Nova – Bruxelles – Belgium – 2017
• Museo Reina Sofia – Madrid – Spain – 2017
• Cinema Le Champo – Paris – France – 2017
• Spoutnik Cinema – Geneva – Switzerland – 2017
• Grand Voisin – Paris – France – 2017
• Documenta 14 – Kassel – Germany – 2017
• Lieu Unique – Nantes – France – 2017
• Les écrans documentaires – Arcueil – France – 2017
• Czech Center – New York – USA – 2017
• Cinemateca Brazileira – Sao Paolo – Brazil – 2017
• La Fraternelle – Maison du peuple – Saint-Claude – France – 2018
• Berliner Festspiele – Berlin – Germany – 2018
• Cinémathèque de Corse – Corsica – 2018
• Cinéma Reflet Médicis – Paris – France – 2018
• Cinéma Cin’och – Bagnolet – France – 2018
• Cinéma L’Archipel – Paris – France – 2018
• Cinéma GranLux – Saint-Etienne – France – 2018
• Cinéma L’Étoile – La Courneuve – France – 2018
• Cinéma Diagonal – Montpellier – France – 2018
• Centre chorégraphique national de Grenoble – France – 2018
• Cinéma Le Méliès – Port-de-Bouc – France – 2018
• Vidéodrome 2 – Marseille – France – 2018
• Cine Zumzeig Cooperativa – Barcelona – Spain – 2018
• Cinéma Kursaal – Besançon – France – 2018
• Cinéma Edelweiss – Thones – France – 2018
• Cinémathèque de Toulouse – France – 2018
• Cinéma Tambour – Rennes – France – 2018
• Cinéma Le Méliès – Montreuil – France – 2018
• Cinéma Cinémaginaire – Perpignan – 2019
• Cinema Forum Bellinzona – Switzerland – 2019
• CNT Paris – 2019
• Université Paris 8 – Saint Denis – 2020
• 60th Venice Biennale 2024
• Centre Pompidou – Paris – 2023
• 33rd Panorama of European cinema – 2021
• États généraux du film documentaire – Lussas – 2024
• Comptoir du Doc – Rennes – 2024
• Greek Film Center – Athens – 2025
Critics or other writings
• Spectres Are Haunting Europe, Marco Romagna, Cinelapsus, oct 2016
• Spectres Are Haunting Europe, Alessandro Aniballi, Quinlan, nov 2016
• Spectres Are Haunting Europe, Dante Albanesi, Il documentario, nov 2016
• Spectres Are Haunting Europe: History reinventing itself, Vladan Petkovic, Cineuropa, nov 2016
• Spectres Are Haunting Europe, Mario Salazar, Nenufares Efervescentes, nov 2016
• Poetiske tiltag bør tages, Annemarie Majlund Jensen, Magasinet Europa, mars 2016
• Passer, quoi qu’il en coûte, Georges Didi-Huberman & Niki Giannari, éditions Minuit, Paris oct 2017
• Fossile en mouvement, Art Presse, déc 2017
• Migawki z tradycji uciśnionych, Paweł Mościcki, Biblioteka Le Monde diplomatique, 2017
• Des spectres hantent l’Europe, Florent Guézengar, Cahiers du Cinéma, mai 2018
• Des spectres hantent l’Europe : les fantômes d’Idomeni, Jacques Mandelbaum, Le Monde, mai 2018
• Des spectres hantent l’Europe, Nicolas Bardot, Film de culte, mai 2018
• Migrations en Europe: Le retour des spectres, Caroline Chatelet, Regards, mai 2018
• Des spectres hantent l’Europe, Danielle Lambert, Culturopoing, mai 2018
• Des spectres hantent l’Europe, Andrien Mitterrand, Critikat, mai 2018
• Des spectres hantent l’Europe, Claudine Castel, Revue Jeune Cinéma, mai 2018
• Des spectres hantent l’Europe, Robert Bonamy et Raphael Nieuwjaer, Débordements, juin 2018
• Des spectres hantent l’Europe, Kathrin Schödel, Isles of the Left, jul 2018
• L’étranger qui vient, repenser l’hospitalité, Michel Agier, éditions Seuil, 2018
• Et j’entends siffler le train, Alice Colmart, Le petit bulletin de Grenoble, oct 2018
• Cinq regards sur les migrations contemporaines, Antony Fiat, Festival des 3 Continents, Nantes, 2018
• Inventori di futuro e poesia civile, Paolo di Stefano, Corriere della sera, oct 2019
• Τα φαντάσματα της Ειδομένης, Σπύρος Στάβερης, Lifo, Ιούνιος 2020
• Voicing the Border: On Some Spectral Essay Films, Laura Rascaroli, Comparative cinema, Vol. XII, no 22, nov 2024
Interviews
• Spectres Are Haunting Europe, interview by Vladan Petkovic, Cineuropa, nov 2016
• It Was the Difficulty of Being There, interview by Jitka Lanšperková, Dokrevue, nov 2016
• Sur Radio libertaire, avec Christiane Passevant, mai 2018
• Sur France Culture, avec Marie Richeux, mai 2018
• Des spectres hantent l’Europe, un doc choc sur les réfugiés, entretien avec Anne Crignon, Le Nouvel Observateur, mai 2018
• Des spectres hantent l’Europe, entretien avec Ysé Sorel, AOC, mai 2018
• Des spectres hantent l’Europe, entretien avec Caroline Chatelet, Regards, mai 2018
• Des spectres hantent l’Europe, entretien avec Rosa Moussaoui, L’Humanité, mai 2018