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When Tomatoes Met Wagner

Culinary Cinema 2019
© Myrto Papadopoulos
Encircled by mountains, the plain of Thessaly has always provided food for Greek farmers. But recently the region has hit rock bottom due to the economic crisis. In the middle of the plain lies Elias, a farming village of 33 inhabitants, with no shops, no school or even a priest. This is where a farmer named Christos has decided to turn over his land to the organic cultivation of tomatoes. In the back of his cousin Alexandros’ house these tomatoes are then pasteurised and hand-packaged by village women as tomato purée and meals. Soon, the little jars are finding their way to the shelves of organic shops across the world. This film follows events as business takes off and the tiny village opens up to the world. A tale about an ordinary rural community where things begin to happen in an extraordinary way. After centuries of insular existence, everything is stirred up by the humble tomato, and the village's 33 elderly inhabitants find themselves having to respond to a new reality. If this weren't enough, Alexandros insists on playing Wagner in the tomato fields; he also uses stories and local myths to market their products and convince people from all over the world to visit Elias.
by Marianna Economou Greece 2019 English, Greek, French 72’ Colour World premiere | Documentary form

Crew

Director Marianna Economou
Screenplay Marianna Economou
Cinematography Argyris Tsepelikas, Marianna Economou, Dimitris Kordelas
Editing Evgenia Papageorgiou
Sound Design Pavlos Christoforakos
Production Managers Elektra Peppa, Sotiria Stergou
Production Manager Janine Louloudi
Producers Spiros Mavrogenis, Rea Apostolides, Yuri Averof

World Sales

Rise and Shine

http://www.riseandshine-berlin.de http://www.riseandshine-berlin.de

Rise and Shine World Sales

Produced by

Anemon Productions

http://www.anemon.gr/ http://www.anemon.gr/

Stefi & Lynx productions

https://stefi.com/ https://stefi.com/

Photos

Marianna Economou

A Greek director who studied anthropology, photo journalism and film in London. Since 2000, she has been producing and directing documentary series and independent films in cooperation with European broadcasters including the BBC, arte and YLE. Her documentaries such as My Place in the Dance, Bells, Threads & Miracles and Food for Love have won a number of prizes. Her film The Longest Run was nominated for a European Film Award in 2016 and won the VER.DI Award for Best Documentary at DOK Leipzig.

Filmography

2001 The School 2006 My Place in the Dance 2007 Please Listen to Me 2008 Bells, Threads & Miracles 2009 Twelve Neighbors 2013 Food for Love 2015 The Longest Run 2018 When Tomatoes met Wagner

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019