“We are all born, as Schiller says, in Arcadia”

(Arthur Schopenhauer: Councils and Maxims - General Rules, Section 1).

The geographical region of Arcadia, a landlocked area in ancient times, gave birth to one of the most enduring myths in the history of the West: the myth of a pastoral paradise where, among others, social harmony, congenial nudity, reciprocal love, piety and prosperity were everlasting. Arcadia was the inspiration for painter Nicolas Poussin’s "Et in Arcadia Ego" (1637-38) and its famous epigraph.

The "Hail Arcadia" documentary is now being screened in Athens and Thessaloniki theatres after its successful premiere at the 17th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival where it won the FIPRESCI award (International Federation of Film Critics).

"Hail Arcadia" attempts to interweave mythological and historical accounts in order to record the "identity of a place that confronts and is confronted with the great philosophical questions of life".

Director Filippos Koutsaftis describes the film as "A journey to a place that is haunted, even today, by the myth of an enigmatic epigraph: Et in Arcadia Ego. A collection of fragments. A salute, brief and ambivalent, like the passage of the runner who crosses the plain of Tegea at midnight".

Koutsaftis was interviewed by our sister publication "Grèce Hebdo" (Αve Arcadia / Le sacré voyage de Koutsaftis, 15.10.2015), where he expands on the film’s narrative: "for us [Greeks] Arcadia represents a barren land, without access to the sea, whose inhabitants are fleeing the country to become mercenaries, as is the case in the story of Xenophon’s Expedition of Cyrus". This is the film’s depiction of Arcadia that contradicts the myth of "Blissful Arcadia", recollecting the memories of the past and the actual present to create a story that suggests a new, realistic modern Greek identity. 

Watch Filippos Koutsaftis’ remarkable documentary on Eleusis (2000): The Mourning Rock; 17th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival: Greek Panorama; Visit Greece: Explore the mountains of Arcadia