The Weeping Meadow

Eye has dedicated an exhibition to the work of Janis Rafa which centres on the relationship between humanity and animals. Janis Rafa about her selection: "I could have chosen many films by Angelopoulos: he is a figure in Greek cinema that many of us have as a reference, for many different reasons. In The Weeping Meadow, the landscape is a main character and the starting point of the film. This is a reversal of how it usually works in cinema: you start with a story, and then find a location and create sets.

"But Angelopoulos explores the idea of landscape in its extremes. He found a location that is dry in summer and flooded in winter. At the bottom, he created a village where they shot part of the film with all the characters. But they continued filming once the rains came and flooded the village, until it was hidden at the bottom of the lake.

"It was a reference for my own film Landscape Depressions. How do you understand a landscape and its transformations, how do you capture the passing of time?"