For a few days now the Greek cinema has been reaching its triumph. The music palace in Athens hosted the long-expected premier of the new Theodoros Angelopoulos movie “The Dust of Time”. The world-famous director arrived at the event in the company of Willem Dafoe and Irene Jacob, the starring actors of the reel. 

“We live in a time of closed horizons. In a landscape covered in fog, in a world with an unknown direction,” says the director at a press conference held couple of days before the movie premier. Regarding the criticism the movie received by far, Angelopoulos says he believes in directors being chosen not by a critic, nor by the audience, but only by the time.

The traffic on “Queen Sofia” boulevard began early in the day. There are masses of people in the lobbies anticipating the director and his entourage’s arrival and the opening of the gates. Camera flashes are outlining, and the photographers gather to catch the onset of the celebs Willem Dafoe and Irene Jacob. At the same time at the event arrived the former prime minister Kostas Simitis with his wife Daphny, whose appearance, however, was somewhat shadowed. Short to 08:00pm, the president Karolos Papoulias arrived, welcomed by the director himself and the minister of culture Antonis Samaras. Finally, it was time to concede the spotlight to “The Dust of Time.”

The audiences held their breath in unusual silence, then long applause followed for the director and his team. A party organized by the Greek Film Center was later held, with the presence of the Minister of education Aris Spiliotopoulos, politicians, and public figures.

The next Theodoros Angelopoulos movie has the working title “Tomorrow” and is to finish the trilogy that started with … and continued with “The Dust of Time.” Undoubtedly, Theodoros Angelopoulos has given the world cinema some of its unforgettable scenes, with his last movie enriching even more his contribution. The first international participation of “The Dust of Time” is scheduled for tonight, at the Berlin festival, from where it will depart for its journey to the world movie theaters.

The Greek cinema saw as a huge recognition the enthusiastic applauses that Panos Kutras’s “Arrow” received at the Berlinale. The movie has already been purchased for distribution in France.