Last week I attended a film screening of the latest cycle of ENIAIOS by Gregory Markopoulos. This is an eighty hour film shown in parts every four years (we are about half way now – in started in 2004) on a particular hillside in Arcadia, Greece. 200 of us from all over the world camped under the stars over 3 nights to experience Markopoulos’ vision of film, nature and pilgrimage. Mike Windle, July 2016.
This is from Temenos Facebook…
Next week, the premiere of ENIAIOS cycles IX -XI by Gregory J. Markopoulos will take place on July 1, 2, and 3 outside the village of Lyssarea in Arcadia. Temenos Archive has restored these next three film orders of Markopoulos’s 80-hour, silent, 16mm film ENIAIOS; the restoration has been a delicate and time-consuming process similar to the restoration of a monumental mosaic or fresco.
Each cycle of ENIAIOS is composed of mythic themes, film portraits, and films of place. His extraordinarily complex editing and individual use of color transport the spectator and help them to reflect on complex emotions within a meditative vision. It is an immersive experience that unlocks distinct and individual qualities for each spectator.
In the three ENIAIOS cycles to be shown this year, there are portraits of the Greek painters Nikos Hadtzkiriakos Ghika and Yannis Tsarouchis; writers Pahndelis Prevelakis, Lilika Nakou, and Patricia Highsmith; and other personalities such as Nina Kandinsky and Catherine Gide. The films of place include the archeological sites of Mycenae, Dodona, Delphi, and the Archontika Spitia in Siatista.
The original meaning of the term TEMENOS is ‘a piece of land set apart.’ Markopoulos chose the site near Lyssarea as the ideal place for his spectators’ aesthetic quest. Deeply imbued with Hellenic culture, his films gain their most powerful impact in this setting. He associated the experience of viewing ENIAIOS to the ancient Greek god of medicine, Asclepius. The premiere screenings on July 1, 2 and 3 will be held at the setting of the sun, approximately 21:45, and vary in length between two and three hours.
