Amateur films: Konstadinos Koutelas Collection

Snapshots from the life of a Greek family in Pringipos: 1950-1975

“These are Proti, Antegone, Chalki and Pringipos…”

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I suggest we start this event with an agreement: we should agree that we are not going to show the sequel of “Politiki Kouzina” or a copy of it. Consequently, I am not going to be famous and make a record number of tickets and you will not see an artistically impeccable piece of work or a plot founded on the fixed laws of drama-making with a beginning , a middle and an end.

You will see - probably some of you remember this from the first presentation of the company “Of the Anonymous” in this same place two years ago- the exact opposite of the official cinematography: archival material totally fragmented, material whose cohesion is exactly this lack of unity in its body. Its story is set up by its intention not to narrate any story but to record fleeting glimpses with shots unstable, uncertain , vague , sometimes more, sometimes less acceptable from an artistic point of view.

In other words you are going to watch extracts of amateur films, shot by Mr. Konstadinos Koutelas. What is special about them? They are films coming from a Greek of Instabul , they are films which present authentic not dramatized snapshots from the life of Greek people of Instabul. Above all, it is – in all probability- the first film by a Greek person from Instabul that we have in our hands.

Konstadinos Koutelas was born in 1913 in Konstantinopolis . He worked as a florist. Taking advantage of a number of favourable settlements by Kemal concerning the people who transferred their registered offices to the capital city, he sets up his business in Ankara next to the special duty-free shops for Americans, the PX. From 1950 onwards he discovers the “hobby” of film-making and the PX enable him to get films and the necessary equipment at lower prices.

The films he shoots until 1977, when he settles back in Greece are in essence:

a) family gatherings, mainly celebrations in Ag. Georgios of Pringipos
b) official ceremonies which he attended , virtually next to the officials, escorting the flowers and wreaths offered to the honoured guests.

During this 30-year period Turkey is trying to familiarize itself with multipartyism in politics. The Democratic Party of Menderes (Demokrat Parti), established in 1946 , prevails in the 1950’s. The bureaucrats and military officers yield, new orders come to the fore, industrialization and farming are becoming more and more important. In 1952 Turkey becomes member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, while an agreement on establishing military bases on its ground is signed in 1954. This era began auspiciously as far as the relationship between Greece and Turkey was concerned – Bulgaria was the main problem in the Balkans for Turkey. However, it leads to the Events of September 1955 , which resulted in the uprooting of a big part of Greeks living in Instabul. Iraq , under the command of Nuri Al Said, is a stable friend and ally in the Arabic world. Towards the end of the 1950’s Menderes miraculously survives a plane accident at Gatwick airport but loses the power by a coup-d’etat in 1960 and his life a year later.

The military government , under the command of General Gioursel together with the influence of the Turk-Cypriot Alpaslan Turkesh , stays in power for a year. After its restoration the parliamentary regime is marked by unstable collaboration governments as well as the establishment of the “National Security Council”. This ratified constitutionally the military intervention in the political life. Nevertheless, after 1965 new leaders emerge : Suleiman Demirel and Bulend Ecevit, the former as a successor to Menderes from the ranks of Justice Party ( the “Democratic Party” has been declared illegal after the coup of 1960) and the latter supported by Ismet Inonou from the Republican People’s Party.

As far as the international political scene is concerned, in 1964 the crisis in the relations between Greece and Turkey aggravates because of the Cyprus issue, in 1967 armed conflict is about to break out and seven years later the invasion in Cyprus and its partition is a fact. Finally , in the 1970’s several left-wing parties and organizations are created , some of which, will adopt the so-called “armed propaganda”, in other words terrorist attacks. Correspondingly, anti-communist rage is in progress. Pogroms against the Left are launched , especially after the assassination of the Israeli Consul in Instabul in 1971.The number of the dead from the political violence increases, in 1975 ASALA (Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia) is established, as PKK in 1978 by Abdullah Ocalan. At the same time , the nationalists train their own teams protected by the Police , especially the Party of Nationalist Action of Turkesh with the infamous “Grey Wolves” acting as spearhead.

This is roughly the climate in which the Greeks of Turkey live , after 1950, and which will gradually lead them to Greece , with or against their will.

As I watched K. Koutelas’ films I get the feeling that the repercussions of those events are indirectly impressed on the image, the topic. He starts to film aiming to record what’s going on around him. Gradually the filming seems to be shrinking, to become more introverted , public life ceases to exist. His camera focuses on the close relatives , his family and in the end is confined to naturalistic imprints of trips. Empty landscapes without people , which spark off memories rather than simply depicting. Here we must note down  that amateur films were sent abroad to be developed and on returning they were checked and censored at the Customs – that’s a piece of information he himself gave me. That could explain many things.

The films are silent, in colour and all standard 8. Due to the fact that in Greece still there is no machine allowing 8mm telecine΄ with scanning method, their transfer on video was by projecting them on screen first after the films had been checked and restored by Mr. Tassos Adamopoulos, in the laboratory of the Film Library. However , this process increases the risks of possible destruction of part of the material as well as any problems the picture might have. Unfortunately, there was no other option within our borders. Therefore I would ask you to take this into consideration during the screening : the fact that in some cases whatever happens , happens with defects but still despite the circumstances.

My intervention in editing the material was limited. I chose to “freeze” picture in some cases, so that some information would be given or some of the people presented would be specified. I also added music to facilitate watching. In this way, I put in hypodermically my own comments so that you can make your own comments too.

I did not wish to focus on the family relationships or an exhaustive recording of the people appearing in the extracts you are going to watch. The rationale behind this was that the relationship , for example, between Raphael Bessoin and Nikos Karderinis was of no interest but it was important that this magic association of different  people , civilizations and mentalities round a poltiko table be imprinted.

Finally, I chose not to follow a strict  chronological order in arranging the particular extracts because they are memory fragments. And as you know, memory in not linear. There is one more reason : the challenge I face every time I handle this kind of material is not to make my own film. The collection of Koutelas’ family in specific was suitable for creating a documentary on the life of Greeks on Pringippos island, along the line of Peter Forgats’ documentaries. This might happen in the future but for the moment what’s important is for you to see something not complete, that is a film signed by a director.

In my opinion , it is important that these films remain “open” as texts to create questions but not to provide an answer today. They should also definitely induce any of you who might have this kind of “archive material” to come in touch with the appropriate authorities.

Parenthetically , I should say that during my research I discovered two more collections of amateur films by Greeks in Instabul. In this aspect , before any presentation, Mr. Koutelas’ films fulfilled an important goal.

I should also personally thank both Koutelas and Karderinis families for allowing the public screening of material of private nature and use. I must acknowledge the fact that this kind of  movement, matter-of-course abroad but rare in Greece display bravery and a different way of thinking laying claim on memory standing against practices and times imposing oblivion.Whereas the prevailing demand is that everything gets out of history, that we should forget as many things as possible, as soon as possible, these amateur films make us remember. This alone carries its own importance.

Allow me to thank especially Mrs. Damaskini Koutela, Mrs. Irene Michaelidou, Mr. Harris Karderinis and Mr.Apostolos Karderinis for their trust to my face and their patience while answering my questions , Mrs. Mary Karderini for the useful remarks, Mrs. Gregory Petriniotis, director and author of “ Turk Christian and Orthodox” for his kindness and support , the Cinema Club of Ilioupolis for eagerly having us here and all of you for responding to our invitation and being here. Last but not least is the creator of these films, Mr. Constantinos Koutelas, not only because he shot these films, because he kept them or because he is here with us tonight. I should thank him mainly for what he told me the first time we met : “every summer I travel to Instabul” , confirming what everybody knows but he is fortunate enough to realize : the love for a place goes beyond politics and time.

Nikos Mitroyiannopoulos
Athens, 26/2/2006

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Contemporary History of Turkey, Erik J. Zurcher (publ. Alexandria, 2004)
2. The surfacing of contemporary Turkey, Bernard Lewis (publ. Papazisis, 2002)
3. Greek people in Instabul, Soula Bozi (Greek Letters, 2002)
4. The accession of Germany to NATO : 50 years ago , Helga Haftendorn (NATO bulletin)
5. From the book “Geography of Asia Minor”, Pant. Kontoyianni, 1921, Association for circulation of beneficial books.