Two Awards for the Geraki-Excavation Documentary “1.000 m2 of Time”

We are happy to share the news that “1.000m² of time”, Maro’s Anastopoulou feature length documentary about the excavation in Geraki, Laconia was recently awarded with the 1st Best Documentary Award and Best Sound Award for sound engineer Yannis Antipas at the 9th International Documentary Festival of Ierapetra. From the very beginning, NIA supported the documentary that took three years to complete. The documentary was produced by Inkas Films and was supported by major Greek factors like the Greek Film Centre and ERT as well as other companies like Pangaia Pictures, Arctos Films SA and 2/35. The premiere took place during the 22th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and it continues its journey to festivals and cinemas around the world.

A few words about the documentary:

Looking into a plot of 1000 sq.m. in Geraki, Laconia, a village of southern Greece, an international team of archaeologists has been constructing the distant ancient past of the acropolis of Ancient Geronthrai. The excavation at Dontakia – as the locals name the acropolis – begun in 1995 by the University of Amsterdam and the Netherlands Institute at Athens. Archaeological finds dating from many different eras, from the Late Neolithic to the Greek Civil War are fragments of the lives of ordinary everyday people. How difficult is it to connect pieces from a lost reality, from a society that has left no written sources? How is the daily life of “people without history” being rebuilt, and how is people’s relationship with their past being shaped? For all these years, researchers work every summer for a six-week period in the excavation pit and their study room, observing and being observed by the local community of Geraki. Yet, it seems that doing archaeology is not only a matter of working with ancient remains ― doing archaeology has an actual impact on people’s lives. Between the olive trees and the stones, in these harsh landscapes of the southern Mediterranean, the archaeologists and the inhabitants of Geraki add their own layer of time to the endless quest for understanding the past.

Stills and Images form 1.000 m2 of time (The Awards)

Writer – Director Maro Anastopoulou
Producer Lilette Botassi | Inkas Film Productions

Co-producers Greek Film Centre | ERT S.A.
Pangaia Pictures | Arctos Films S.A. | 2|35 S.A.
Director of Photography Kostas Matikas
Sound Man Yannis Antipas
Sound Designer Persefoni Miliou
Sound Mixing Kostas Fylaktidis
Editor George Charisis
Original Music by
Dimitris Korontzis | Maria Kochanska