Academy of Athens to Screen Birth of Democracy Doco

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The Academy of Athens will host a screening of the international documentary “Athens: Birth of Democracy / Το Λίκνο της Δημοκρατίας” on Wednesday, September 30, exploring the political system introduced by Cleisthenes in ancient Athens.

The event forms part of the Academy of Athens’ celebrations marking 100 years of operation and is co-organised with the French School at Athens and Anemon Productions. It will begin at 5pm in the East Hall of the Academy of Athens, at 28 Panepistimiou Street.

Academy of Athens President Nikiforos Diamandouros will open the event at 5:05pm, followed by the screening of the 62-minute documentary at 5:10pm.

Directed by Florence Tran, the film examines the emergence of democracy in ancient Athens around 2,500 years ago, when political power shifted towards citizens.

According to the organisers, the documentary follows archaeologists and historians from the remains of the Ancient Agora to contemporary archaeological excavations. It also uses experimental archaeology to explore the birth of the world’s first democracy and its continuing significance.

The screening will be followed at 6:15pm by a round-table discussion titled “Lessons from Democracy”, which will examine how the first democracy sought to protect itself from tyranny, civil conflict and corruption, and what lessons it may offer for safeguarding democracy in the 21st century.

Diamandouros will moderate the discussion, which will be conducted in English.

Academician Konstantinos Bourazelis will speak on “Origins, evolution, principles and legacies of the Athenian Democracy”, while French School at Athens Director Véronique Chankowski will discuss “New discoveries about ancient Greek democracy.”

Diamandouros will also address the question “Not for the Few but for the Many: Can Democracy exist without the ‘All of us?’”

The documentary is a French-Greek co-production by Yuzu Productions and Anemon Productions, with the participation of MagentaTV and EKOME, and support from the Athens Democracy Forum.

The production uses French, English and Greek and features contributions from a group of archaeologists and academics, including Vincent Azoulay, Director of Studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris; Chankowski; Dimitris Plantzos, Associate Professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; Stella Chrysoulaki, Director of the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion; Andreas Kapetanios, Assistant Professor at Ionian University; and John Camp, former Director of the Ancient Agora Excavations.

Greek actress Vicky Nikolaidou provides the narration.

The event will conclude at 6:45pm. Admission is free.

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