Αττίλας '74 (Attila ’74). 1975. Cyprus/Greece. Directed by Michael Cacoyannis. With Cacoyannis, Rauf Denktaş, Glafkos Klerides, Nikos Sampson. North American restoration premiere. DCP courtesy Michael Cacoyannis Foundation. In Greek, English; English subtitles. 105 min.
In the summer of 1974, as events were unfolding in Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus with a tragic and consequential speed, the Greek director Michael Cacoyannis, internationally famous for Zorba the Greek, filmed this gripping eyewitness account of the violent conflict in his native Cyprus, an island inflamed with ethnic, religious, and geopolitical tensions. Introducing the North American restoration premiere of Attila ’74 on January 30 are Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, producer, and Mark Mazower, author of The Greek Revolution: 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe. Mazower writes, “Cacoyannis was a towering figure in modern Greek cinema. Best known internationally for Zorba the Greek, he introduced Melina Mercouri to the world in Stella, before making one of the truly neglected masterpieces of postwar European filmmaking, The Girl in Black. Nearly two decades later, as his native island of Cyprus was caught up in the turmoil caused by the Colonels’ Junta in Greece, Cacoyannis sped to the island to make this unique document of a society torn apart by intrigue, invasion and military occupation. Shot with a rare immediacy, and with remarkable access to some of the leading protagonists in the dramatic events of the summer of 1974, Cacoyannis produced not only one of the great political documentaries of the time, but an early record of a humanitarian catastrophe. Plotters and prelates, hostages, soldiers and refugees all feature in his record of the island’s partition.”
Image digitization and restoration by An Mar Film Lab. Audio restoration by Black Box Media – MCF. VFX: Yafka. Restored from a 35mm positive film with support from Faliro House.