GFF24: 1922

Banned by successive Greek governments, ostensibly because its release would ruin diplomatic relations with Turkey, Koundouros’ adaptation of Ilias Venezis’ autobiographical novel Number 31328 is a passionate plea against the political and military establishment that was complacent during the ethnic cleansing of Greeks in Anatolia. Told through the imaginative eyes of a boy who escapes Turkish imprisonment, the film is arguably the first time the true magnitude of the genocide was depicted onscreen “without evasions, phobias, or pretexts” (Vrasidas Karalis).