A celebrity screening of Promakhos, the feature film about two Greek lawyers who fight to return the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, was held last week in London, in the presence of actor and big reunification supporter Stephen Fry.
Directed and written by American brothers John and Coerte Voorhees, and the product of six years of research of the issue of reunification, Promakhos is a love story about two Athenians who find redemption and transcendence through the Parthenon Marbles.
Andreas (Pantelis Kodogiannis) is a Greek American lawyer who leads a litigation effort to return the Parthenon marbles to Greece. Upon his reentry to his homeland, he finds the city of Athens in a state of civil unrest. He rendezvous with the director of the Acropolis Museum (Giancarlo Giannini) in the ethereal Parthenon Gallery that overlooks the ancient Acropolis.
Andreas unveils a newly discovered Ottoman document that proves that the name of the official courier of Lord Elgin’s 1801 expedition to Athens was changed to allow for the Marbles to be sold to the British government. The museum director expresses reservations, but ultimately decides to send Andreas to London to begin the deposition against the British Museum.
Andreas is accompanied by Eleni (Kassandra Voyagis), his childhood friend, co-counsellor, and growing love interest. Eleni has a deep-seated desire to see the Marbles returned to Athens, as she sees the stones as a path toward redemption of the spirit of the people of Greece.
This naive view is tested as the British Museum general counsel (Paul Freeman) mounts a defence of his client, the British Museum (Michael Byrne as the curator). When the judge throws the case out, Andreas is humiliated and strikes out at Eleni. The two return to Athens to find the city in a state of chaos.
The film deals with the themes that are inscribed in the Marbles, including agones – struggles, loyalty and rebirth.
At its core Promakhos is about the test of true love through sacrifice. Within a modern context, it is an opportunity to tell a story of the rebirth of Athena and the renewal of justice. The struggle for the reunification of the sculptures is set against a background of civil strife and unrest. Like the great bronze statue of Athena Promakhos that used to stand in defence of the Parthenon, the characters in the film must find the courage to defend what they love the most. In this way the film will show how the story of the Parthenon Marbles will live forever in the city of Athens.
“Greece is the cradle of our civilisation and this film more than any I’ve ever seen gets that across. One would want to dedicate it perhaps to that great Athenian actress, the Athena of her day, Melina Mercouri, who is the first person to persuade many British of the justice and righteousness of this cause,” British actor Stephen Fry said at the London screening.
The film stars Michael Byrne, Georges Corraface, Spyros Fokas, Giancarlo Giannini, Paul Freeman, Pantelis Kodogiannis, Kassandra Voyagis and Yiorgo Voyagis.
For more information about the movie, visit www.facebook.com/pages/Promakhos-The-Movie