120 years after the rediscovery of the Palace of Knossos and Crete's ancient Minoan culture, myths still surround this Bronze Age advanced civilisation. New studies suggest that the throne at Knossos belonged not to the mythical King Minos, but rather to powerful priestesses who worshipped a goddess. Following a calamitous natural disaster, the Minoans lost faith in the goddess and her representatives and a civil war led to the downfall of a society already weakened by internal conflict.
For centuries, the Minoan civilisation remained all but forgotten – except for the myth of the minotaur, half-man and half-bull. Now, experts like the Belgian archaeologist Jan Driessen are using state of the art technology, DNA testing and modern research methods to learn more about the ancient society, its culture and its eventual destruction as a result of an unforeseen catastrophe around 1450 BCE. The film Mothers of the Minotaur reveals what is now known of the Minoans in a compelling docu-drama built around the fictional account of a priestess and her daughter, which is based on historical sources.
Ever since their rediscovery more than a century ago, the Minoans and the depictions of women they left behind have remained a source of fascination, inspiring people like the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and Pablo Picasso as well as modern feminist movements. Mothers of the Minotaur investigates the facts and theories surrounding this ancient civilisation and places it within a historical context, exploring not only what impact the Minoans had on subsequent societies, but also how history is so often interpreted according to the changing values and mores of successive generations.
A film by Iris Fegerl.
Credits
Documentary
45 min / 52 min
Director: Iris Fegerl
Screenplay: Iris Fegerl
Producers: Jakob Pochlatko, Dieter Pochlatko, Rea Apostolides, Yuri Averof
Line Producer: Heinrich Mayer-Moroni
Executive Producers: Franziska Kiefmann, Mary Ignatiadis, Anastasia Angouridaki
Post-Production Coordination: Jelka Jeschek
Director of Photography: Harald Staudach
Sound: Valentin Zelger, Aris Kafentzis, Spyros Roumeliotis
Music: Radovan Media
Editing: Tanja Lesowsky
Costume Design: Alexia Theodorakis
Make Up: Elina Trantou, Maro Polymerou, Eleni Paraskeva
Narrators: Marc Vogel, Marie-Luise Stockinger, Petra Morzé, Raphael von Bargen, Aris Sas
Commissioning Editor ORF: Hans Wu
Commissioning Editor ZDF/ARTE: Peter Allenbacher
Commissioning Editors Cosmote TV: Faye Tsitsipi, Giota Kalafati
Cast Reenactment: Sofia Kikilintzia, Rania Athanasopoulou
among others
produced in: 2024
first broadcasted: tbc
a co-production by EPO-Film, ANEMON Productions, ORF, ZDF, ZDFinfo, Cosmote TV
in cooperation with ARTE, ORF Enterprise
funded by FERNSEHFONDS AUSTRIA, EKOME
Fotos/Downloads
