The Songs of Fire

Athens 1974. Against the backdrop of political transition after the fall of the seven-year Colonel's Junta, the Athenians get organised to make their voice heard. Pivoting around the period between July and November of 1974, the unconventional Greek director, Nikos Koundouros, captures the electrified pulse of the ecstatic people who protested on the streets by the thousands, and flocked into concerts to celebrate freedom and the fall of the dictatorship. Antonis Kalogiannis, Maria Farantouri, George Dalaras, and Mariza Koch were only a few of those great artists who performed in two major concerts conducted by Giannis Markopoulos, and Mikis Theodorakis. During the documentary, as the camera never shies away from the sadistic methods of torture, the member of the Patriotic Anti-dictatorship Front (PAM), Christos Reklitis, recounts his horrific experience in the name of freedom.