At The Lake – Memories of Occupation

Synopsis

In the early hours of March 25, 1944, screams and cries wake up Ioannina. The operation to exterminate the Jewish community of Ioannina has begun. 1,850 men, women, and children are displaced and led to their deaths. In 1989, German historian Christoph U. Schminck Gustavus would search step by step to bring their truth to light, paying tribute to the victims, whose executioners were never convicted. In 2007, Greek historian Iasonas Chandrinos worked as a research associate at the Jewish Museum of Greece (EMH) and since then his research interests have focused on the study of the contemporary history of Greek Jewry. In 2014, the camera recorded the testimonies of two Jewish women from Ioannina who survived Auschwitz, Ester Cohen and Zanet Nahmia. The film follows a special road trip in Greece and Poland, with Jason as the driver and descendants of Holocaust survivors as co-drivers.

About the Director

Chrysanthos Konstantinidis

Chrysanthos Konstantinidis, originally from Ligkades, Ioannina, was born and lives in Athens. He studied cinema and artistic photography. He is a film director and producer. He has been working in film and television since 2005.

In 2018, he created his first feature-length documentary film The Balcony – Memories of Occupation, which has been screened at documentary festivals, won awards, and was distributed in cinemas in Greece and Germany. It was selected by DocsBarcelona as part of the NEXTUS platform catalog. It is included in the film collections of the “Federal Agency for Civic Education” in Germany and the “Pedagogical Institute of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate.” It was also broadcast on Greek television stations.

In 2020, he collaborated with the Free University of Berlin to create the educational documentary Memories of Occupation from Greece on the MOG platform.

In 2021, he collaborated with the Greek Scout Corps to create the documentary With a Heart Full of Courage – Scouts in the Occupation.

Artistic Statement

Through cinematic narration, the survivors’ testimonies come to life, permeating the misty landscape of Ioannina, the snow-capped mountains of Pindos, the frozen train tracks, and the ruins of the death camps, in a human geography approach where the place, in the sense of physical space, participates and suffers alongside humans.

The wet and foggy landscape will allow the viewer to pierce through oblivion and experience the tragic history that took place next to the lake of Ioannina.

The journey to Auschwitz will be combined with the testimonies of survivors and willbecome the link between intergenerational trauma and the descendants’ need forremembrance and prayer.

The filming took place in a snow-covered camp under cloudy skies, conveying the sense of mourning and the tragic conditions experienced by the hostages there, as well as inside the barracks and crematoria where the descendants walk towards the place where their ancestors suffered as martyrs.