Birds

A hybrid film, at the edge of documentary, fiction, and political fantasy, by cinematographer Babis Makridis, of “L” (Sundance Film Festival 2012) and “Pity” (Sundance Film Festival 2018, Best Film, Greek Film Academy 2019). A movie about what is fake and what is real, about flying and falling, the human need to fly, fear of heights, vertigo, utopia, Gods and man.

The film had its world premiere at the Voices section of the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2020 and its online premiere in Greece at the Onassis Channel on YouTube with 50,000 spectators in 3 days. It was then presented at top festivals around the world: Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, BelDocs (Serbia), Shanghai IFF (China), Molodist (Ukraine), New Horizons (Poland), Valencia FF (Spain), Indiecork (Ireland).

The film “The Birds or how to be one” draws its inspiration from the archetypical myth of Aristophanes’s “The Birds,” Nikos Karathanos’s production, and its participants, filming them off stage, in real spaces and natural environments—from lava fields in Iceland to the plateaus of Patagonia, and from Times Square to the Egyptian pyramids. Everything takes place in a universe of fluid “everyday” routine, among theater people, ornithologists, and pragmatic recluses who all dream of flying.

Credits

A film by: Babis Makridis

Production Manager: Isavella Alopoudi

Cinematography: Konstantinos Koukoulios

Sound Design: Leandros Ntounis, Stefanos Efthymiou

Editing: Marios Kleftakis

Music: The Little Thieves

Original Stage Play Music: Angelos Triantafyllou

Line Producer: Amanda Livanou

With: Alexandra Aidini, Maria Diakopanagioutou, Vasiliki Driva, Nikos Karathanos, Emily Koliandri, Giannis Kotsifas, Ektor Liatsos, Christos Loulis, Grigoria Metheniti, Kostas Berikopoulos, Konstantinos Bibis, Stratos Papadakis, Aggelos Papadimitriou, Foivos Rimenas, Michalis Sarantis, Giannis Sevdikalis, Aris Servetalis, Elena Topalidou, Marisha Triantafyllidou, Haris Fragoulis, and Galini Hatzipaschali

Produced by: the Onassis Foundation, in collaboration with Neda Film

Based on: Aristophanes’ “The Birds”, in a Modern Greek adaptation by Giannis Asteris and Nikos Karathanos

World Sales: New Europe Film Sales

Fb page: https://www.facebook.com/birdsthemovie/

Read More: https://www.onassis.org/news/birds-or-how-to-be-one-babis-makridis-documentary-returns-for-24-hours-at-the-onassis-channel-on-youtube