Project Description
ΣΕΠΤΕΜΒΡΙΟΣ 2021
The UnLost Homeland
2021 / duration: 2h 11min
“The UnLost Homeland” follows the story of 12 Greeks from Constantinople who lived through the Istanbul pogrom of 1955 in Turkey.
It is notorious in modern history as the only pogrom of such magnitude to have taken place during peace time. The camera lens together with the presenter transports us to the stories of all the refugees who were forced to leave their country as well as of one Turk who is in self-exile. These are the stories of everyday people who were brutally uprooted.
The Unlost Homeland
director : Eftychia Fragou
SEPTEMBER 2021
2021 / duration: 2h 11min
The UnLost Homeland” follows the story of 12 Greeks from Constantinople who lived through the Istanbul pogrom of 1955 in Turkey.
It is notorious in modern history as the only pogrom of such magnitude to have taken place during peace time. The camera lens together with the presenter transports us to the stories of all the refugees who were forced to leave their country as well as of one Turk who is in self-exile. These are the stories of everyday people who were brutally uprooted.
How did Turkey manage to eradicate all these minorities? What truly happened in these genocides that have been so masterfully silenced?
Who were the Greeks of Istanbul really? How did they continue the Byzantine legacy? How did they manage to keep intact their language, their religion and their identity for 500 years after the fall of Constantinople?
How did they interact with the other minorities (Armenians / Jews) of the city? Where were they on the night of the pogrom? What was their education, their relationship with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, their everyday life, their cuisine? The story of this elite society unfolds through these rare interviews.
Utilising fast-paced montage, and innovative animated text on screen, the viewer is transported to an imaginary table, where everyone is sittinng together without knowing each other, answering and complementing each other. In the end it feels as if everybody is somehow related to one another.
