00:00The 67th Thessaloniki Film Festival welcomed the award-winning director, screenwriter and
00:07actor Oliver Lax. The creator of the gripping film Sirat, which won the jury prize at last
00:13year's Cannes Film Festival, captivated the festival audience during the masterclass he
00:19gave where he spoke about his career, cinema and his influences.
00:28In the film, we follow middle-aged Luis as his searches along with his young son for his
00:34missing teenage daughter at outdoor rave parties in southern Morocco. So, what does Sirat capture
00:43in Lax's opinion?
00:44I'm interested in the sacred. I'm interested in therapy. I'm interested
00:53in exploring our wounds. That is a really complex thing that we have human beings today. Wounds
01:00that belong to us and wounds that belong to our ancestors and also to the world we are
01:07living on. We are portraying in Sirat a generation that is lost. I include myself in a way. It's
01:17like we don't have the tools, you know, to really be in balance. But something that is beautiful
01:23is that we keep looking for transcendence. So, I don't like to judge if the tools that you
01:30take for transcendence are better or worse. What I like is to recognize humankind today like
01:39looking at the sky still, you know. And this is something that you do in the desert. You know, in
01:44the desert,
01:46you don't see trees. You don't see rocks. You don't see mountains. You just see the sky. That is yourself.
01:51In a way, it's a mirror to look inside yourself. And that's what we wanted to propose to spectators, you
01:57know,
01:57through this shock therapy that is Sirat, to look a little bit inside, you know, that I think it's
02:04the most political thing that you can do nowadays, to look inside.
02:09This year, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival is organizing a major tribute titled
02:15Welcome to the Desert. As part of this, it invited the Galician director to select 17 films centered on
02:24the theme of the desert. At the same time, Oliver Lax is presenting his audio-visual installation titled
02:32Who at Murmus Experimental Arts Center? First time that the work has been presented outside of Spain.
02:39The desert gives you taking from you. So, I like that the desert gives you limits. And I need limits
02:50because I like to go far. That program, it's based on my, the films that they were inspiring for me,
03:01from different levels. And yes, and I also present my installation that I did in the Rina Sofia Museum in
03:09Madrid.
03:40The main goal of this expedition is to try to take a broad picture of the marine biodiversity status
03:47because of the Madeira Archipelago. We cannot protect without understanding how the biodiversity functions
03:53and works. So, hopefully, with this expedition, we want to improve our understanding.
04:14Today is a beacon of hope because the population is increasing in numbers. Now, that increase is very slow
04:21because there are very slow breeders. The survival rate is also low. And so, it's very important to keep
04:28attention on how to improve the conditions to protect the habitats and to protect the ecosystem.
04:45Madeira is in Europe. So, we need ocean protection within Europe. You know, people think about ocean
04:54protection, they think about the Pacific, they think about the Indian Ocean, they think about the,
04:57you know, the polar regions. It all seems a bit remote and therefore doesn't affect their
05:03environmental decision making. But if they see huge, beautiful, functioning, proven marine protected areas
05:12in Europe is closer to home. Deep sea is a very difficult place to study. It requires very often very
05:25expensive
05:25equipment. So, it means that many places do not have any idea what is actually down there. And this expedition
05:34has really changed now. This is about getting eyes on these places that are out of sight, out of mind,
05:42because
05:42they are important.
06:00The renowned Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch returned to Athens after many years, performing one of the
06:07legendary choreographer's final works at the Athens concert hall. In Vollmond, Full Moon, which premiered in 2006,
06:16the great German choreographer creates, through her distinctive poetic language, a unique universe in
06:21which love, desire, tenderness and conflict between the sexes co-exist in an endless interplay of intensity
06:27and lyricism.
06:29The way of being was to work with everyone, completely and with the qualities that everyone brings.
06:36So, it is not a kind of style, a kind of style that one will see, but it is to
06:44see the different qualities
06:47that everyone has on the screen. And in the instances where, as I said, it is a very creative experience
06:53and with the rain and the water is very powerful.
06:56The energy that comes out in the audience is incredible.
06:59A massive rock and water dominate the stage,
07:02whilst the work's dramaturgy unfolds through a series of episodes
07:06exploring everyday life, the human experience and human relationships.
07:11The bodies of the 12 dancers whirl to the sounds of music,
07:15plunge into the water and surrender to desire,
07:18the intensity of emotion and the forces of nature.
07:21For me, the most important element of the company
07:24is the repertoire of Bina Bausch,
07:27the repertoire of pieces that she has developed with the company.
07:30In total, since 1973, when she became director of the company,
07:36she created 47 works.
07:38And our biggest task is to keep that repertoire alive
07:41and to keep performing it to the very best of our abilities.
07:45Usually in one season, we select two pieces
07:47that have not been performed for many years
07:50and we restage them with the work of as many original dancers as possible
07:55who come to Wuppertal to pass on their roles to the new generation of dancers.
08:01So that is one part of the balance.
08:03And the other part is new creation,
08:05because Bina Bausch's company was always a company
08:08that created something new every year.
08:12Volmond is one of Bina Bausch's most widely toured works in the two decades since its creation.
08:24Santorini is widely regarded as the most popular Greek island among international travelers.
08:28Its iconic volcanic caldera, whitewashed houses and spectacular sunsets in Ea
08:34consistently place it among the top destinations for visitors from around the world.
08:38However, local hoteliers have been voicing concerns that their hotels are no longer fully booked.
08:43After COVID-19, we had an intense tourist activity in our island.
08:48However, due to some unnecessary events,
08:50one was the seismic activity around the island.
08:54And in the second time, the war was created in the Coulpo.
08:59It created a tourist activity.
09:02For me personally, it was about 30-40%.
09:05The sharpest decline was recorded in arrivals from the United States
09:09and, naturally, Israel.
09:11However, the situation improved after the summer season.
09:15The tourism began in Eaeroni in Eaeroni in Eaeroni,
09:18but in the second time, it was an extraordinary situation.
09:21And in September and October, it was a good tourist month
09:25and with visitors that have the most interest in the island.
09:30Santorini is not only a tourism to see the sun.
09:33It is also a cultural and political destination.
09:40It can provide tourism all the time.
09:43A new digital tourism campaign was recently launched
09:47to boost the island's international image.
09:50Santorini is for all the islands.
09:52It can support all the economic islands.
09:55It provides places from very thin to very precisely.
09:58The increase of the tourists creates a plurality of tourists.
10:06The numbers are almost the same.
10:09Santorini has 3,5 million visitors,
10:12along with those who are from the Coulpo.
10:14Cruise tourism is seen by many as both a blessing and a curse
10:18for islands like Santorini.
10:20We have done all the time.
10:31We have done all the time.
10:35We have done all the time with the Koulpo.
10:41We have done all the time with the Archaeology.
10:52The majority of visitors will be given the price of the Kruasgera.
10:57They will not let the people of the Kruasgera in the same time.
11:04But the people of the Kruasgera don't let them pay for money,
11:11because they are not in the same time,
11:12but they are not in the same time,
11:14or they are not in the same time.
11:18From the Santorini, for the Giro News, Guyanese Yagginis.
