MQFF Midsumma Movies: AKOE/AMFI: The Story of a Revolution

MQFF brings you a sizzling weekend of the newest and most fabulous queer cinema

(*Just to sleep on their chest…)

In 1977 a group of friends created A.K.O.E. – the Greek Homosexual Liberation Movement. The movement spawned a magazine, Amfi, whose offices at the legendary basement on Zalongou Street were to become a place of refuge and organisation for the Greek queer community until 1990.

This astounding documentary presents an insider’s view of the queer rights movement in Greece, from nascence and consciousness-raising to agitating for the rights to exist, to happiness, to love. The movement’s story is told for the first time by director Iossif Vardakis, who was a member of A.K.O.E. from 1985 to ’88, a member of the Amfi editorial team and responsible for the art direction of two of its issues.

His beautiful film features a treasure trove of archival footage, music, animation and great use of talking heads, testifying to the challenging political backdrop to A.K.O.E.’s emergence, intra-community rivalries and community prejudice against trans people, and ultimately to the surmounting of such impediments to progress and self-determination.

• Director: Iossif Vardakis
• Country: Greece (2023)
• Rating: Unclassified 15+
• Runtime: 71 minutes