“Missing Bodies” / In Parliament, a question asking for censorship of a Greek documentary poster

Elina Psykou’s new film is a documentary in the form of a road movie, it follows some women who travel through an increasingly conservative Europe claiming autonomy and self-determination of their bodies. It is a documentary about legal paradoxes, artificial borders and social inequalities, but mainly about life, death and even more about the right to choose between the two. According to the synopsis of the film which will be seen at the 26th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and which is participating in the CPH:DOX Festival held in Copenhagen: “Robin is pregnant but does not want to become a mother. Katerina wants to but can’t. Kiki just wants to die with dignity. But abortion, IVF and euthanasia respectively are not legal in their countries. “Stray Bodies” explores bodily autonomy in a Europe where you are allowed to travel, work and consume freely, but not always to live or die as you wish.”

Elina Psykou, known from the films “The Eternal Return of Anthony Paraskeva” (2013) and “The Son of Wisdom” (2017), notes that the legal oddities from country to country regarding abortion, physical fertilization and euthanasia they made her wonder “how much basic freedoms are taken for granted in the modern Western world, as well as the dignified and equal treatment of people in matters of life and death. Furthermore, how much do the Catholic and Orthodox Christian Churches undermine access to certain social goods? Has Europe worked for the social cohesion of its states as much as it has worked for their economic and territorial cohesion? And finally, how likely are these basic rights to be further undermined by the sharp rise of the populist Far Right and the alarming spread of conservative beliefs?’ And he adds that through the film we will discover phenomena such as “abortion tourism”, “fertility tourism” and “suicide tourism”.

The “blasphemous” poster

The MP of the Niki Komninos Delveroudis party states in a topical question in the Parliament that the film “Stray Bodies” “is accompanied by a provocative, blasphemous and unsightly poster, which depicts the crucified figure of a woman, pregnant and topless, which openly refers to the sacred face of the Virgin”. And he continues: “The poster in question openly offends morals, blaspheming the holy symbol of the cross and the holy faces of the Crucified Christ and the Virgin Mary, while this unacceptable fact shows, once again, how imperative is the need to restore the criminal provisions for malicious blasphemy and defamation of religion. Recently, Niki, through her president, denounced another misrepresentation, in a Netflix series, where Alexander the Great is presented as a homosexual. When will the dragging of Greece, of our cultural and orthodox religious heritage finally stop?” Finally, the MP states: “We are submitting the unacceptable poster to the minutes. In a time when rights of all kinds are constantly being invoked, we should fight for the self-evident acquis of our democracy, that everyone can believe what they want or believe nothing, but they have no right to offend the faith of others in the supposed name of the freedom of art”.

We remind you that in the similar question of Dimitris Natsios regarding the Netflix series about Alexander the Great, Lina Mendoni said: “The ministry does not censor Art, does not take actions that result in its prohibition, does not manipulate, does not restrict, it does not control the dissemination of information and ideas either preventively or repressively’. We are waiting to see if the minister will answer the new question of the patriotic party and if finally the film that will be screened from March 28 in theaters will finally keep its official poster.