Builders, Housewives and the Construction of Modern Athens − 2021
An Onassis Culture production. A documentary by Tassos Langis and Yiannis Gaitanidis
A documentary about the most distinctive Athenian building type, the polykatoikía, and the reconstruction of the city through the life of the anonymous lay builders and their housewives, who were the most unlikely “co-authors.”
Embedded media
If you want to enjoy embedded rich media, please customize your cookie settings to allow for Performance and Targeting cookies. Your data may be transferred to third-party services such as YouTube, Vimeo, SoundCloud and Issuu.
How did they learn and develop their craft, where did they come from, what techniques and knowledge did they carry with them? How did they reinvent their tools to satisfy emerging needs? How did they communicate and negotiate with the ‘educated’ architects? What were their wives asking for? In other words, what was the story of their encounter with the ‘project of modernity’?
As long as these ‘co-authors’ remain invisible, the history of modern Athens is still incomplete, if not also deeply deceptive.
This documentary is based on the same-titled book by Ioanna Theocharopoulou, revised and published in 2022 by the Onassis Foundation.The film premiered at Athens International Film Festival "Opening Nights" 2021 (Official Competition)
Film Stills
Image1/4
Still from the "Builders, Housewives and the Construction of Modern Athens" film
Written and Directed by Tassos Langis and Yiannis Gaitanidis
Scientific Consultant: Panos Dragonas
Photography and Camera Operation: Tassos Langis and Yiannis Gaitanidis
Editor: Tassos Langis
Aerial Shots: Tassos Fytros – Flyingdog Greece
Sound Recording: Stefanos Efthymiou, Yiannis Gaitanidis
Sound Design and Mixing: Persefoni Miliou
Motion Graphics: Georgia Skartadou
Line Producer: Yannis Karachalios
Executive Producers: Shampoo Films / Eleni Asvesta / Harry Patramanis / Yannis Karachalios
Dialogue Editor: Chara Konstadara
Foley: Nikos Linardopoulos
Additional Camera: Viktoria Vellopoulou
Colorist: Manthos G. Sardis
Post Production Coordinator: Che Panousopoulos
English Subtitles: The Wordsmiths
Equipment: Kostis Nikolopoulos - Rent Photo Video
Music Licensing: Musou Music Publishing
Onassis Culture
Director of Culture: Afroditi Panagiotakou
Deputy Director of Culture: Dimitris Theodoropoulos
Group Communication & Content Manager: Dimitris Drivas
Head of Content: Alexandros Roukoutakis
Head of Creative: Christos Sarris
Talks & Thoughts Program Coordinator: Pasqua Vorgia
