Observe

Proposed Questionnaire

1. General Discussion

Observe closely the poster of the documentary and start brainstorming!

-What are your conclusions on the documentary’s subject matter? In your opinion, what is the main theme?

-Who are the main characters and what do you think their relationship is?

2. Characters

-What is the mission that Alkiviadis Zabakas has undertaken during his sentence? How did he manage to complete it?

-Alkiviadis Zabakas refers to the prisoners’ education. What is the importance of education in times of confinement?

-What do you gather from the information on the relationship between inmates under these circumstances?

-The hero found himself returning to the prison yard. Is this place familiar to him? How can we tell he has been there before?

-Why did he decided to return to this place on that given moment?

-His feelings seem to be mixed. Start by specifying them and try to refer to the choices the director makes in capturing them.

-Give a brief portrait of the hero in five words.

3. Film Language

-Documentary techniques vary (archival material, interviews, graphs, etc.). Which method does the director follow in this specific scene and why? If you had the chance to re-shoot this film clip, which of the techniques mentioned above would you add?

-What are the differences and similarities between the clip you have just watched and the interviews that are usually shown in international media, focusing on famous people (celebrities, politicians, etc.)?

-How is the hero framed in the beginning of the film clip and which information does he bring into the film plot (emotional climax, alternation of time and space, etc.)

-How many shots can we see in this specific scene and what kind of shots are they (refer to: Glossary/Shot)?

4. Historical and Social Context

-The documentary refers to the building that housed the prison and to its intertemporal use. Which historical period does this specific excerpt focus on?

-What kind of information do we gather on the social reality of the era? Which distinctive elements of the period of the military Junta are mentioned in Zabakas’ narration?

-The building that was formerly a prison houses today the Research Center “Vassilis Tsitsanis”: on the ground floor there is an exhibition of the remains of the Ottoman Bath that was revealed during the Center’s rennovation, and on the first floor there is an exhibition od archival material and other personal belongings of Vassilis Tsitsanis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnNxDt-ZXCI) In addition, the Bath hall contains showcases with objects (tools, keys, etc.) that refer to the period when the building was a prison. However, historians and researchers claim that the history of the prison could have been more prominent in this exhibition.

-In your opinion, what is the importance of creating a wing in the new buiding that can be dedicated to the history of this prison? What shape can it take? Give your museological suggestions!

-On the occasion of this previous discussion think of the following question: Which buildings do we choose to preserve and which ones do we bring down while destroying our historical memory at the same time?

Memory vs. Oblivion

Association: Art Education, Literature, History, Ancient Greek

In 2006, the prison in the city of Trikala is demolished after 110 years of use. In this documentary we follow seven individuals who lived there as they return and unbury from their long or short sentence personal memories as well as views of modern Greek history. Take the following steps and discover the importance of cultural heritage.

Step 1

Brainstorm around the following question: What is the meaning of cultural heritage? Gather on the following table all the definitions that will come up.

Step 2

Cultural Heritage is divided into two categories: material/tangible cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage. Material heritage includes immovable cultural heritage  (archaeological sites, monuments, etc.) and movable cultural heritage (museum exhibits, collections etc.), whereas intangible heritage refers to myths, traditions, values and customs, music, dances, etc., which were inherited by previous generations.

https://ich.unesco.org/en/what-is-intangible-heritage-00003

Taking into account the definitions above and the pictures (see Appendix I), fill in the following table.

Step 3

The place where the prison is located has a long history and had different functions in each time period. Last year there was the inauguration of a museum dedicated to the great composer Vassilis Tsitsanis on the same location. The museological team tried to include in the exhibition traces of the past that refer both to material and immaterial cultural heritage.

3.1 Split into 3 groups BATH/PRISON/MUSEUM that correspond to the respective stages of use. Collect pictures (see Appendix I) that have representations of elements that might interest your team. Take a close look at the pictures and note the information you gather for each use on the following table:

3.2. Making use of the data you collected before, create your own timeline (as demonstrated in the example in appendix ΙΙΙ). After scanning and saving the pictures you used in the previous activity, visit the page http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/timeline_2/

and create your timeline in 5 easy steps.

Step 1 Give a name to the project and press START.

Step 2 Press on the broken line and fill in the table with all the necessary data (label, short description, long description, eg. prison construction 1895).

Step 3^. Choose the picture that corresponds to each time stage from the saved picture gallery.

Step 4  Conclude the procedure by pressing FINISH.

Step 5 Save in a pdf format by pressing the button SAVE FINAL

Alternatively

Hang a large piece of cardboard on one of the classroom walls and create your own timeline, by placing the pictures in the right position