The Story of the 'Emperor' Aris BC from the first post-war years until 2009.
Featuring:
Anestis Petalidis, Yannis Ioannidis, Vangelis Alexandris, Haris Papageorgiou, Philippos Syrigos, Nikos Galis, Panagiotis Yannakis and Paris Kalimeridis.
Cinematography:
Claudio Bolivar
Sound:
Dimitris Kanellopoulos
Associate producer:
Yannis Vikias
Archivist:
Akis Papadopoulos
Scripts/Narration:
Konstantinos Kamaras
Screenplay/Historical Documentation/Directed by:
Elias Giannakakis
Words are poor when it comes to Aris.
Those Thursdays, when everything closed down in Greece, because Aris was playing in Europe. It was like we were waiting for Santa Claus, every Thursday evening. And every time he brought us a new and even shinier present.
And then, the Saturday derbies against PAOK.
No one can understand what it was like unless they were there.
This is what we tried to do in this movie. To bring the slightest details back to our memories.
The film shows how it all started; back in the 1950s, when the top player was Anestis Petalidis.
He later became the coach of the new squad and in the Galis years, he was the man who maintained a delicate balance and kept the team on their feet without anyone knowing about it.
“...I’m a junkie for Aris...”, he said to me while the camera was rolling.
A great man.
Then came Yannis Ioannidis; first as a player and then as the man, who became a coach overnight and led Aris to the first and most difficult Championship in its history, in 1979.
That was when the Empire began; with Alexandris and Papageorgiou as the top scorers. They discuss that memorable night.
And then, Galis. And Yannakis. Together with coach Ioannidis they made the squad, that all Greeks loved. And which essentially is behind the miracle of 1987; which was when the duo Galis - Yannakis really came together.
It is a film with a very special feeling.
Because that Aris squad, in those years, is part of all our sweetest dreams. Without exception.
