Film info

Creator / Collector

Description
Chanakia is a local community of Alpochori in the Prefecture of Ilia, in the Peloponnese, which belongs to the Region of Western Greece.

August 15 is the day of the feast of The Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, has a special place in the celebrations of the Orthodox Church and is celebrated throughout Greece, as it is not a mourning event for the Greek people, because it is believed that the Virgin Mary "moved to the life".

We are in Chanakia on the 15th of August, where a big feast has been set up in the yard of the village’s traditional coffee house.

In the foreground, we see the filmmaker who plays the bouzouki (a string musical instrument popular in Greece) with a small band and at the beginning we hear a traditional "hasaposerviko" (Greek folk genres of music) while a man dances. The food and the drink orders are executed quickly and every guest, young and old seem to enjoy.

Afterwards, the filmmaker sings and plays on the bouzouki the song of the Greek musician Markos Vamvakaris' "Your two hands took (Vergoules)", a man dances zeibekiko (Greek folk genres of music) another one completes the dance and a third one gives a tip to the orchestra. The feast continues, a couple dances a fast hasaposerviko, facing each other.

In the next shot, we see the father of the filmmaker Christos Asimakopoulos who leads the tsamiko (Greek folk genres of music) dance to the sound of the pipe, with a cigarette in his hand. Two ladies take turns in the lead of the dance, the fellow villagers participate and continue in other traditional rhythms. We see a special view of the famous daouli (a large double-headed drum) musician Christos Kandilas and Vassilis Tsakos with his bagpipe (gaida).

The villagers dance, laugh, joke on the feast of the Virgin Mary in Chanakia, Ilia, in 1978.

Coordinates

Film Information

Holder
Asimakopoulos Nikos

Quality
HD (1440x1080)

Sound
Yes

Color
Yes

Duration (seconds)
322

Format
Super 8mm

Creator's description


We are in the courtyard of the traditional coffee house of Mitsos Theodoropoulos, in Chanakia, where a village feast takes place and almost all the people of Chanakia and Alpochori are gathered.

In the foreground we see a folk band, in which bouzouki is played by Nikos Asimakopoulos who also sings. The song that is heard is "Vergoules" by Markos Vamvakaris and is danced by Giannis Tsousis. Then follows the Hasaposerbiko which it is danced by Spyros Theodoropoulos and his wife.

Then, we see the famous daouli (a large double-headed drum) musician Christos Kandilas and the musician Vassilis Tsakos with his bagpipe and the feast that follows is indescribable. Charalambos Asimakopoulos is the first to lead the dance with a tsamiko, with his children and many of his relatives by his side, while after a while all the villagers enter the dance.
Asimakopoulos Nikos