The Why, the Who and the How of Indigo View’s latest documentary for COSMOTE HISTORY
Its subject matter has been close to our hearts for years, and it is the type of project we yearned to be involved in, baiting our time for the suitable opportunity, and the proper partner to do so.
It has been a long time – and a painstaking research – coming, but with the support of OTE TV – COSMOTE HISTORY we finally got a chance to tell this incredible story.. On the occasion of its recent screenings in Chania and Heraklion, here are some of the reasons why “When Mercury Held his Breath” is one of our proudest moments yet.
Why is the Battle of Crete unique?
“The Battle of Crete is of great historical interest, not only for Greece but worldwide, because of the paradoxes surrounding it (…), the greatest of which being the unexpectedly steep numbers of German casualties. For a number of reasons and because of their own miscalculations, the Germans lost a great deal of their forces. It just so happened that the miscalculations made by our Allies were even greater. We should not forget though, that his commando-type war was new for everyone involved, resulting in a great deal of confusion on both sides”.
Kostantinos Mamalakis, Historical researcher interviewed by Aimilios Harbis for http://www.kathimerini.gr
Who are the protagonists?
“The stories we recorded speak of battles, massive executions, retaliations, complete annihilation of villages by burning; crimes that remain unrecorded, untried, as if they never happened. But they did happen, and they left an indelible mark on the island and its people. This was the last chance to record such testimonials, since the people who witnessed them and are still alive are now close to a hundred years old. We are proud to have been able to give them the chance to tell their story.”
Victoria Vellopoulou interviewed by Stella Harami for http://www.monopoli.gr
“Some of the people that offered testimonials were seriously ready to do so, the thoughts had matured inside them and their memories started pouring out like a flood; for 80 years these thoughts kept tormenting them and needed to be let out. (…) But there were others who arrived on set still traumatized, and found it very difficult to open up, because their wounds were still wide open, and could not easily be put into words.”
Victoria Vellopoulou interviewed by Alexandros-Romanos Lizardos for ERT.
How can you go about such a story?
The impressive production incorporates a wealth of audiovisual materials sourced both by ally and German archives, and can easily be compared to similar productions focusing on WWII realized by international TV networks. (…) World-renowned historians like Anthony Beevor and Hagen Fleischer venture substantive responses, and of course survivor testimonials reveal the pain still evident in Crete today.
Vassilis Koufopoulos, www.typologies.gr
Indigo View honors the memory of historian Stephan D. McNeal and army veteran Konstantinos Korkas who have sadly recently passed away, leaving us with the invaluable legacy of their testimony captured in our film.
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