In the courtyard of the church of Agios Nikolaos, within the archaeological site of Elefsina, in-between the city’s archaeological past and industrial present, Eleusis 2023 European Capital of Culture inaugurates, on Thursday, June 24, at 19:00, the first event of Mystery 62, titled “Nights of Slowness – Discourses about Time / Nuits de Lenteur – A propos du Temps”, focusing on the concept of slow cinema. The evening’s main speakers are director Syllas Tzoumerkas and film critic Alexandros Papageorgiou. Along with the talks, the composer Giannis Veslemes, improvising through the technology of modular synthesizers, deconstructs and reconstructs the classic composition by Johann Sebastian Bach, “Air on the G String”. Responsible for the program’s artistic direction is director and musician Alexandros Voulgaris (The Boy).

This June’s full moon evening is dedicated to the legendary film theory book “Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer,” by Paul Schrader. In the book, Paul Schrader explains the aesthetic tools with which the above directors approached the concept of spirituality in their work. Overall, the analysis revolves around the revolutionary way in which they handled time to define and indelibly influence what we now call slow cinema. 

 The Idea:

The Night of Slowness (Nuit de la Lenteur) was presented for the first time in Elefsina in 2018, in collaboration with the French Institute of Greece. It is part of an annual event, dedicated to the exchange and circulation of ideas, organized by French Institutes all across the globe. Eleusis 2023 European Capital of Culture repeats and further develops the action in 2021 with two key moments, under the title “Nights of Slowness – Discourses about Time / Nuits de Lenteur – A propos du Temps”.

The Nights of Slowness are hosted twice a year, under the light of the full moon, and present a series of original discussions featuring distinguished guests, always focusing on the concept of time. At the same time, each event is accompanied by different cultural actions. The Nights of Slowness are here to introduce us to the art of slowness, and to slow down the frantic pace of a world that moves way too fast.