This summer, the Tomato Industrial Museum, in Vlychada, will host the screening of Zacharia’s Mavroides documentary “Across her body”.
Every year, on July 31st, Mrs. Irene and the last remaining “fifteeners” return to the Monastery of the Accession, on the south end of Therasia, the little known sister island of cosmopolitan Santorini. They spend the next two weeks living in the cells of the obsolete Monastery, honoring their life-time vow to the Virgin and continuing the tradition of “Fifteen”.
Every morning, they pray for the eternal rest of their beloved deceased ones. Every afternoon, they pray for the health of the living. In between, they recall the past while gazing at the tourist traffic across the volcanic bay.
The film documents the fading tradition of “Fifteen” set across the breath-taking volcanic landscape of Santorini, focusing on two elderly women: Mrs. Irene, the social center of the ephemeral community and Miss Magda, the once prestigious daughter of the deceased priest of the Monastery.
“Across her body” questions issues of faith, identity and gender by correlating three female bodies: the deserted body of the once upon a time fertile Therasia, the sacred body of the Virgin Mary and the aging, human body of the “fifteeners”. It’s homage to an archetype of Greek motherhood that has become obsolete in modern Greece.
Screening hours: Daily (except Mondays) until September 15th, at 12:00 and 14:00
Duration: 84 min
Language: Greek with English subtitles
Ticket: 5€