Mourning Rock (2000)
Directed by Filippos Koutsaftis
Duration: 85 mins
A monumental documentary for the city of Elefsina that was 12 years in the making. The past and the present, in complete antithesis, coexist in a place spoiled by modern industry but which long ago hosted the Eleusinian Mysteries, the secret ceremonies that initiated the ancient Greeks into the miracles of life, death and the afterlife. The main character of the film, Panagiotis Farmakis, a homeless man, who roamed the ruins saving important archaeological finds from the bulldozers without ever asking for any monetary reward, rather living “upon the earth and under the clouds.” The film won the first prize for documentary and the audience award at the 41st Thessaloniki Film Festival (2000).