Competition

Arabim - The Souls of The Statues

Arabim - The Souls of The Statues / Αραμπίμ - Οι Ψυχές των Αγαλμάτων 00:53:17

Greece 2016
Directed by: Antigoni Paroussi - Costis Papanastasatos
Screenplay: Margarita Koulentianou
Music: Nikolas Tsaftaridis
Production/School: Theater workshop DECE NKUA - Videofactory
Dialogue language: Greek
Subtitles language: English



The Arabim are the souls of the statues. Legend has it that, every time a statue was stolen or destroyed, its soul remained behind and mourned. When Lord Elgin decides to transport the sculptures of Acropolis back to his homeland, the statues’ souls deter the Sultan from signing the relevant permit and then sink the ship “that was taking” them to England. The film’s story unfolds on two levels. In the present, where a traveller comes to Greece in search of historical truth and meets a puppeteer, who is setting up the show ‘Arabim’. And in the past when, in 1801, Lord Elgin gradually starts destroying the Parthenon in an Ottoman-occupied Athens. The traveller is initiated into the world of puppet theatre. He watches the puppets bring the past to life and feels the truth spoken by the souls of the statues. The film takes place in central Athens, around the Acropolis, as well on a puppet-theatre stage.