Elias Petropoulos: An Underground World

“I present the world with a very different approach, not as it was taught to us at school or in the army. I believe that each one has the right to see the society he lives in with his own particular view. I am, personally, more interested in Devil than God”- Elias Petropoulos. A restless and inquisitive spirit, a foe of academics and the status-quo, Petropoulos was the first folklorist in Greece, who dealt with social outcasts and described people and situations ignored by his country’s official history. Petropoulos takes us on a journey to unknown landscapes of our tradition and Greek-ness and acquaints us with all those people who belong to our social underground and who dominate his books. Rebetika musicians, bums, spivs, whores and homosexuals, people tormented and Greek-ness and acquaints us with all those people who belong to our social underground.

Directed by Kalliopi Legaki, Elias Petropoulos: An Underground World leans on a strong ensemble — Elias Petropoulos, Aristeidis Antonas, Michalis Genitsaris — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about documentary titles of 2005.