“STORIES OF THE WIND” TRIBUTE TO PIONEER DIRECTOR JORIS IVENS (1898-1989)
18 &19 August 2025
At Ciné Avli of Andros Film Club
11th International Andros Festival
Curation: Pantelis Voulgaris
In collaboration with: Taksiarhis Deligiannis
Vasilis Tsiouvaras
This year, the Festival commemorates Joris Ivens, an exceptional and pioneering European documentary filmmaker. During the two-day tribute to his work (18 & 19 August), the festival will screen two of his most important short films, “Borinage” (1934) and “The Spanish Earth” (1938), and the feature film “A Tale of the Wind” (1988), the last one of his career that he made at the age of 90. The screenings will be introduced by director Dimitris Indares.
Joris Ivens was born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and died in Paris, France. The “passionate lover of humanity” or “citizen of the world”, as he was called, combined many of his travels with his films. In the Soviet Union he documented the methods of suppressing a strike (“Song of Heroes”, 1932). In Spain he made a documentary in support of the democratically elected Republicans during the Spanish Civil War (“The Spanish Earth”, 1938). In China he spoke about the heroic resistance of the Chinese people against the Japanese invasion (“The 400 Million”, 1939).
His collaborations with other filmmakers were significant and fruitful. Together with Frank Capra he made the documentary series “Why We Fight” (1943). He collaborated with the brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani on the documentary “Italy Is Not a Poor Country” (1960), combining different film genres. He also participated in the collective documentary “Far from Vietnam” (1967) with Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, Agnès Varda and many other acclaimed directors.
His inexhaustible filmography includes, among other films, “Tomorrow in Nagila” (1960), “A People in Arms” (1961) and “The Victory Train” (1964), in which he describes the battles of various peoples and countries, empathising with them. The 763-minute documentary “How Yukong Moved the Mountains” (1977), which records the Chinese Cultural Revolution, also holds a distinct place in Ivens’ filmography. Finally, in his autobiographical film “A Tale of the Wind” (1988), Ivens summarises his life and career with the wisdom of a well-travelled humanist.
Among his numerous international awards are the Short Film Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1958 and the special prize for his entire body of work at the Venice Film Festival in 1988.
Screening start time: 18 & 19 August, 9:00 PM