Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis is in Australia, promoting Adults in the Room, a film written and directed by Costa-Gavras based on Varoufakis’ book which revolves around the tense hectic negotiations between Greece and the European union to avert bankruptcy.
On Friday night, Mr Varoufakis attended the premiere of the film in Australia as part of the Sydney Greek Festival program and the Museum’s Always monthly Sunday film screenings.
Actors Christos Loulis and Alexandros Bourdoumis, who star in the film also attended the screening and presentation by professor Vrasidas Karalis that was followed by and post-film Q&A with the former FinMin.
Greek Australian TV persona Mary Kostakidou coordinated the session during which Mr Varoufakis answered questions on his inspiration behind the book and the turbulent times of the Greek bailout saga in 2015.
“The film is a reflection on real events, recounted via cinematographic logic and constraints of space and time,” he said. “In this story, it is the human adventure that matters most: how these events affected the social, economic and political life of society, and not only that of Greece.”
The film is in English, Greek, French, and German, with English subtitles.
The Greek Festival’s screenings is not the only event Mr Varoufakis is attending.
-On Monday, 2 March 2020 he is scheduled to appear at City Recital Hall to talk about ‘The Economics of Liberty’
Over the next two days Varoufakis who is also Professor of Economics at the University of Athens and an Honorary Professor of Political Economy at the University of Sydney, will attend Adelaide Writers’ Week at the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Gardens participating in three different events:
-On 3 March he has prepared a lecture titled ‘Groundbreaking Democracy’ and the event will be hosted by journalist Tony Jones
-On 4 March he will have an open conversation with fellow writer and journalist Antony Loewenstein titled Peddling Doom hosted by journalist Paul Barclay. The two will touch on the threat of capitalism.
-As part of the ‘Twilight Talks’ segment, Varoufakis will take part in a panel discussion with Benjamin Law, Joy Harjo, Azadeh Moaveni and Anton Enus as the MC.
Finally, on Thursday 5 March he will appear at Adelaide’s SACOSS (South Australian Council of Social Service) as the key speaker in a conversation on the social capital.
On the same night, Varoufakis will also attend The Wheeler Centre’s event at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne. Together with acclaimed journalist and host Nassim Khadem they will talk about ‘Debt, Disobedience and Democracy Today’.
Prior to his trip Down Under, Mr Varoufakis became -yet again- the talk of the EU after threatening to disclose sensitive content pertaining to negotiations with the country’s creditors in 2015.
According to the former minister, the Speaker of Greece’s Parliament refused to give to lawmakers a secret audio recording providing important evidence.
