Director Angeliki Aristomenopoulou’s “A Family Affair” is an intimate portrait of the famous Xylouris family and their bonds with the musical tradition of Crete. The film, that premired in Greece this month, follows three generations of musicians of the Xylouris family who uphold and pass on the vibrant tradition of Cretan music.
The film traces Antonis Xylouris, known as Psarantonis, to his son George Xylouris, known as Psarogiorgis to Nikos, Antonis and Apollonia studying in Australia. In the documentary, the musical family discover the musical ties that bind them.
“It captures how music is passed on from father to son to grandchildren, in a contemporary Greek-Australian family, brought together and apart by their love of music,” says Aristomenopoulou.
“We don’t carry this tradition as a family weight,” explains George Xylouris. “It’s part of our lives, of who we are. We need this tradition to live, like we need oxygen.” The film’s director and production are currently running an outreach campaign to make Cretan music known to a broader international audience.
“Since we started this project, we have seen immense interest across the world by individuals, associations, music and dance groups, schools and universities to use the film,” says Aristomenopoulou.
Anemon is working with Maria Hnaraki, founding director of Greek Studies at Drexel University and author of Cretan Music: Unravelling Ariadne’s Thread, to help bring the film and Cretan music to classrooms across the world – especially in communities of the Greek Diaspora. The teacher’s guide will be offered free of cost and will help teachers use “A Family Affair” to teach Greek and also to help students connect with Greek music, and learn to compose Cretan mantinades and to dance.
Anemon has successfully completed two crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter, to help produce the film and the soundtrack and to support the release of the film. The team is also looking for outreach and screening partners across the US, Australia and Europe, to host screenings of the film and help to organise special events dedicated to Cretan culture.
CLICK HERE to link to the site of “A Family Affair”.
