Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow

In 1919, Greek refugees from Odessa arrive in their historical homeland. They establish a village on the riverbank where their children are born, grow up, and fall in love. Life unfolds peacefully until the country is once again thrown into turmoil—this time, by civil war and dictatorship.

Theo Angelopoulos—a friend and stylistic companion of Abbas Kiarostami, with whom he pioneered "slow cinema": fluid, expansive, leaving plenty of time and space for the audience's presence. Unlike his Iranian counterpart, Angelopoulos gravitated towards larger forms—*The Weeping Meadow* runs for nearly three hours—and a distinct, deliberate theatricality: his Odessa refugees may have long left Ukraine, but the large black suitcases cling to them, reappearing throughout the film.

Initially conceived as the first part of a trilogy, *The Weeping Meadow* remained the only one: soon after the film's completion, the director was fatally struck by a motorcycle at the age of 77.