ABSTRACT

Following the paradigm set by Primary, a film associated with the birth of cinema verité, documentaries on elections have appeared regularly over the last 50 years. In 2012 the sub-genre of the ‘election doc’ appeared for the first time in Greek cinema with the almost simultaneous release of two films: Ena Vima Brosta / One Step Ahead by Dimitris Athiridis and Dimokratia, o Dromos toy Stavrou / Demokratia, the Way of the Cross co-directed by five filmmakers under the coordination of Marco Gastine. As documentary film is often associated with alternative and more sophisticated representations of political reality, it is natural that the appearance of the two films raises expectations and questions regarding their positive contribution to the current public discourse. This article attempts a comparative analysis of the narrative construction as well as the form of the two films in order to reveal the views each one offers on current Greek politics and the potential for change. The construction of meaning is examined as a result of different ways each film organises its footage into a complex plot, of variations in the modes of documentary representation, as well as of different stylistic choices.

Keywords: crisis, Demokratia the Way of the Cross, election documentary, One Step Ahead, politics, verité