Firewalkers of Greece - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

In what is considered the most emblematic example of his pioneering approach to blending ethnography with scientific documentation, Roussos Koundouros entrusts the words of Nikos Gatsos to guide us - both as witnesses and as participants -...See moreIn what is considered the most emblematic example of his pioneering approach to blending ethnography with scientific documentation, Roussos Koundouros entrusts the words of Nikos Gatsos to guide us - both as witnesses and as participants - through a nearly metaphysical tradition dating back to antiquity: that of firewalking. A "strange ritual" that the Anastenarides of Eastern Thrace carried with them across Macedonia - from Serres to Veria, from Drama to Thessaloniki. The bizarre, frenzied, Dionysian dance of the Anastenarides becomes the beating heart of a rigorously structured, ritualistic narrative. The film interweaves population movements, sacred icons of Saints Constantine and Helen, animal sacrifices, drums that seem to play by themselves, and bare feet stepping onto burning embers - heated to 500 degrees Celsius - without suffering pain or burns. In the few minutes of its duration, the film pieces together a Greece that still believes in miracles. More than just a documentation of an ancient custom, Firewalkers of Greece also captures the resilience of people who, in their moments of trance, touch something divine - the very God to whom they dedicate themselves. Written by Thessaloniki Documentary Festival See less