DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Return to Homeland – by Chryssa Tzelepi & Akis Kersanidis

Titus Milech is a psychiatrist who lived and worked in Marseille. He grew up in Germany, but he doesn’t identify as German due to the horrific Nazi heritage. After many years of rejection and denial of his origin, he begins a journey back to his hometown of Tübingen, Germany. He returns to the places where he grew up, meets relatives and friends, but soon enough he engages with the real cause of his journey. He starts wandering the country with – what he calls – “German madness”, following the lead of his old diary’s revelatory confessions. He visits memorial sites, places and people that will get him in touch with an understanding of the historical truth, trying to find answers for personal and collective concerns in the absurdity of the past. Not just a mere biography, this is a story of a man roaming in the vast chronicles of human unkindness, crossing an existential path to self-knowledge.

Chryssa Tzelepi

Chryssa Tzelepi works as an independent producer-director based in Greece. She studied film at the London College of Communication, University of Arts London. Initially, she was active in the field of creative photography as a photographer and exhibition curator. In 2008, she created anemiCinema together with fellow producer-director Akis Kersanidis. Since then, she has been actively involved as director-producer and executive producer at anemiCinema productions, and has produced and co-produced several documentaries, experimental projects and TV doc series with a strong presence in Greek and international festivals. Her recent projects focus on cultural-historical heritage, contemporary art and social issues. She is a member of Hellenic Film Academy and Greek Documentary Association.

Akis Kersanidis

Akis Kersanidis was born in Thessaloniki in 1963. He graduated in 1988 from Film School E. Hatzikou as director of photography. Since 1989, he has worked as a director of photography, and then as a director and producer with the production company “Prosenghisi film-video productions”. He has directed many documentaries, TV shows, theatrical performances and mixed media productions. Since 1994, he has been also involved in film education. For many years, he has been running the Audiovisual Laboratory “IRIS” and teaching photography direction at the School of Film Studies of Aristotle University. From 2001 to 2009, he was the head of the experimental film festival Strange Screen. Since 2008, he has been active as producer and director and executive producer at anemiCinema productions. He is a member of the Hellenic Film Academy and the Greek Documentary Association.