Journey of Armenians to Greece in the early 1920s, their resettlement and course in various regions of the country. This is the central theme of the documentary.”New Motherland” director Konstantinos Georgopoulos which, after its premiere at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival this year, will be screened in cinemas Danao May 12, 13 and 14..

This is a historical overview of the first Armenian refugee communities as they developed after the Asia Minor catastrophe. It is estimated that after 1922, about 400,000 Armenian refugees arrived in our country.

Having at its disposal a rich and rare archival material of the collaboration with “Armenika” magazinedirector and head of video and audio production at Kathimerini in his first feature filmfocuses on unknown testimonies and stories of the descendants of the first refugees.

The film highlights unknown historical aspects of modern Greece, etched in the collective memory of the country’s Armenians. In the documentary we see footage and stories of people in Kokkinia, Neos Kosmos, Lauri, Thessaloniki, Xanthi, Komotini, Alexandroupolis, Didymotikhon, Heraklion, Syros and Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.

However, at the same time, the camera follows the sixth grade students of the Neos Kosmos Primary School as they try to maintain their Armenian identity in contemporary Athens. Through their lessons and activities, they come into contact with the history and traditions of the Armenians, know the past and strive to preserve the “living” Greek-Armenian community.

The film also uses excerpts from the play “Angel Curtian’s Notebooks“where the famous actress directs and shoots Kristina Aleksanyan.

The New Motherland is an independent production funded entirely and exclusively by donations and sponsorship from members of the Armenian community.

Director

Konstantinos Georgopoulos studied chemistry (EKPA) and cinema (SAE, Athens). He is a director and cinematographer.

New Motherland is his first feature film.

He has also directed the short documentary The Carpenter and His Wife, which premiered at the 19th Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival and has participated in many other festivals throughout Greece.

As a cinematographer, he created two short films: Suzukakia and Beautiful Butterflies.

In 2018, he took up his duties as Head of Video at HuffPost Greece. Since 2020 he has been working in the Daily Publications SA group. as head of the video and audio production department of the online edition of the newspaper Kathimerini (kathimerini.gr).

New Motherland – authors

Director of Photography: Konstantinos Georgopoulos
Screenplay: Konstantinos Georgopoulos, Mike Ciligrian
Editing: Vasya Dhulia
Music: Miran Tsalikyan
Cinematographers: Panagiotis Pontikidis, Vangelis Fasulopoulos, Giorgos Stamatakis, Aren Grigoryan
Drone operators: Giorgos Stamatakis, Dimitris Vryzas, Aren Grigoryan
Sound engineer: Aris Pavlidis, Giorgos Stamatakis, Aren Grigoryan
Sound Editing – Sound Mixing: Lefteris Xantis
Color Correction – Color Handling: Ilias Adamis
Poster design: Sofia Georgiou
Production: Konstantinos Georgopoulos, Urbi Productions – Azatamard Association (Armenian magazine)