Utopian spatialities: The past as present in the films of Filippos Koutsaftis

Abstract

In the documentary work of cinematographer Filippos Koutsaftis, Greece's past is reconstructed as an ever-living presence by means of its archaeological imprint. In his films, Greece is re-imaged as a transcendent archaeological landscape, cruelly violated by a deeply uncultured and thoroughly misanthropic modernity. Following the example of Theo Angelopoulos and a distinct European tradition focusing on the documentation of contemporary dystopias, Koutsaftis composes his filmic text as a contemplative gesture that rehearses cultural memory while at the same time seeking to come to terms with what he describes as “the trauma of history.” His portrayal of Greece as a utopian spatiality departs from the standard heterotopic conventions; according to Koutsaftis, the materiality of the past is imbued with a truly emancipatory force, and the experience of Greekness is restructured in his films not only as a historical or social process but also on the basis of the past's spatiality. © 2019 by The Modern Greek Studies Associatio