Olympic Diaries Film Review in the Naftemboriki, April 7th, 2005
The thrill of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games captured in Olympic Diaries by Angelike Contis
The crowds are gathering for the 7th Documentary Festival in Thessaloniki as directors and producers pull out all the stops in order to impress the young people filling festival theatres.
Director Angelike Contis is participating in the festival with her latest documentary, 'Olympic Diaries', an emotional and passionate film which documents the enthusiasm and expectations in the days before the Olympics and the sadness after they are over.
One of the film's chief protagonists is her father, Vasilios Contis, from Vlahokerasia [in Arcadia]. He emigrated to America in 1955 and came to the Athens 2004 Olympics as a volunteer. During the Olympics he helps out at the baseball venue and is a big supporter of the Greek team.
At the same time, the film offers a portrait of the sandalmaker/poet Stavros Melissinos, whose family has had the same shop for 80 years. His father owned the shop for 30 years and Melissionos has run it for 50 years. He's well-known in tourist guides, and has had famous clients like Jackie Kennedy, John Lennon and Barbara Streisand. He creates robust, handmade sandals like those worn in antiquity.