Vindication 3368 – Distributed by NEW STAR

Medea Pictures Announces the Distribution of Ismini Sakellaropoulou’s Documentary “Vindication 3368” by NEW STAR

Premiere on December 9, 2021 (First Run)

In cinemas across GREECE starting December 9, 2021 | PRODUCED BY Medea Pictures and DISTRIBUTED BY NEW STAR at the historic art-house cinema STUDIO new star art cinema and in other cities throughout GREECE.

PRESS RELEASE

A world that fights, does not surrender, and insists on striving for justice.

Following thorough historical research and through the fictional yet realistic portrayal of a real-life condition, the dramatized documentary titled “Vindication 3368” (ΔΙΚΑΙΩΣΗ 3368), written and directed by Ismini Sakellaropoulou, has been completed. It is a Medea Pictures production with the support and co-funding of the Municipality of Kalavryta, the Region of Western Greece, the Kalavryta Agricultural Dairy Cooperative, and the scientific support of the Municipal Museum of the Kalavryta Holocaust.

“JUSTIFICATION 3368” presents the issue of German war reparations and restitutions—a matter that has occupied the country for years, particularly the descendants of the victims of the German Occupation—taking the Kalavryta Holocaust as its focal point. The title refers to the legal work of Kalavryta lawyer Periklis Sakellaropoulos who, along with other attorneys, managed to collect and record hundreds of lawsuits filed by the families of the victims of the Kalavryta Holocaust, reaching claim application number 3,368. All lawsuits were collected into four volumes to be captured cinematically in this project, serving as a reminder that they are not lifeless legal documents regarding financial compensation, but a living historical source—a detailed record of a tragedy and, simultaneously, a social, political, and judicial struggle rooted in the tragic year of 1943, specifically on December 13, when “Operation Kalavryta” took place.

In addition to dramatized scenes capturing the Kalavryta landscape with throwbacks to the past, the appeals of civilians, wounded dignity, and the horror of war, the film includes interviews with prominent personalities who construct the moral, historical, judicial, and other dimensions of the Kalavryta Holocaust and the battle for Justice and Reparations.

Appearing in the documentary (in order of appearance):

Giorgos Katimertzis (President of the Panhellenic Union of Fighters of the National Resistance and Democratic Army of Greece, former Mayor of Kaisariani, Co-President of ESDOGE)
Vasilis Brakatsoulas (Resistance fighter, former MP, Co-President of ESDOGE)
Vasiliki Lazou (Historian, Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Petros Efthymiou (Professor, Philologist, Journalist, former Minister of Education)
Charis Kakkanas (Architect, Owner of the historic “Chelmos” Hotel)
Athanasios Papadopoulos (Mayor of Kalavryta, President of the Network of Martyred Cities & Villages 1940-1945 “Hellenic Holocausts”)
Giorgos Bambarakos (Conductor of the Kalavryta Municipal Philharmonic Orchestra)
Giorgos Dimopoulos (Survivor of the Kalavryta Holocaust)
Maria Katsikopoulou (Survivor, locked inside the school during the Kalavryta Holocaust)
Dimitris Katsikopoulos (Lawyer, former MP, former Prefect of Achaea)
Charilaos Ermeidis (President of the Kalavryta Holocaust Victims Association, member of the Secretariat of ESDOGE)
Aristomenis Syngelakis (Doctor of Dentistry NKUA, Co-Secretary of ESDOGE)
Vasilis Kyriazis (President of the Board of the Panhellenic Union of Lawyers for German Reparations – PED)

The film’s narrators are Kostas Arzoglou and Anna Papageorgiou, while the dramatized scenes feature actors: Theodora Siarkou, Virginia Tambaropoulou, Michael Seibel, Giorgos Chraniotis, Pelagia Voutzoulidou, Panagiotis Karmatis, and Vasiliki Kouli. MP of Achaea Iason Fotilas also participates.

Additionally, the project features the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Municipality of Kalavryta, the Hellenic Army 1940 Reenactment Group (Alexandros Deligiorgis, Markos Andreou, Giorgos Palevis, Michalis Chanos, Spyros Papadopoulos, Konstantina Stella, Theodosios Nellios), the Acharnes Folklore Dance Association “O Kokkinos Mylos” (Achilleas Ntagiantas [dance instructor], Vasileios Mpountalis, Konstantinos Mpoulougtouris, Angelos Nikolaou [dancers]), and the Kalavryta Theatrical Group “Panos Michos” under the guidance of Efthymia Benaki.

Scriptwriter and Director Ismini Sakellaropoulou stated regarding the film:

“The emotional character of this dramatized work, the alternating feelings, and the anticipation of redemption—combined with the accounts of the speakers—contribute to restoring the public’s sense of justice. Following thorough historical research, through a fictional yet realistic projection of an entire inner psychological world that fights, does not surrender, and insists on striving for justice, the documentary ‘JUSTIFICATION 3368’ was created—a work designed with meticulous care and study.”

Producer & Ex. Producer for Medea Pictures, Emmanuel Mavros, added:

“It sends shivers down one’s spine to think that, had those 3,368 lawsuit applications miraculously preserved by relatives not survived, the annihilation of 677 executed civilians and the burning of nearly 1,000 homes in Kalavryta and over 50 villages would have been relegated to historical oblivion. Especially considering that Nazi troops also seized physical goods, food, and livestock, depriving village residents of basic living conditions. History, however, must not and cannot be left to oblivion. Ismini Sakellaropoulou’s documentary is the absolute least we can do to keep memory alive, making it clear that nothing has been definitively settled, and justice for the Kalavryta Holocaust has not yet been served.”