Next Year In Lerin
2000, BetaSP, colour, 45 mins.
In 1948 during the Greek civil war, 28 thousand children, Greek and Macedonian, were taken from their villages by the communist-led Democratic Army and raised in orphanages in Eastern Europe. The Greeks never allowed the Macedonian children back.50 years later the ‘children’ mark the anniversary of their journey. They dance and sing and yearn for their lost villages
The Greek civil war has faded into history, but the Macedonian ‘children’ remain its forgotten victims.
“As a tour bus, bearing a number of the expatriates back to Greece reaches the Greek border…I was suddenly reminded of Theo Angelopoulus’ films Voyage to Cythera and Ulysses’ Gaze.” Wen, Tien-Hsiang, Taiwan Ethnographic Film Festival.