On the Friday show, March 14, 2025, after the headlines, we discussed current affairs with journalist Manos Oikonomidis from ysterografa.gr. In the second hour, after hearing the announcement of the names of the new government following the reshuffle, we “traveled” to Moscow, where we met Ms. Dora Giannitsi, Director of the Center for Greek Culture, the organization that, under her leadership for the past 20 years, has been uniting Russia and Greece through the power of Art, Culture, and Letters. The Center also oversees the Greek Language Learning departments, which include Russian students.
Right after, we had the great honor and pleasure of speaking by phone with a great Philhellene and distinguished scientist and person, Swiss dentist Julien Grivel, who was in Thessaloniki to attend the screenings of Stavros Psillakis‘ documentary film Sculpted Souls at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival’s competition section. Grivel is the central figure of the film, as he is the person who, from 1972 to 1998, visited the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Agia Varvara during the summer and worked on the teeth of Hansen’s disease patients. He had significant experiences with these people, alongside his wife Christianne, who assisted him, and through these experiences, he grew to love Greece even more.
In the final part of the show, we stayed in Thessaloniki and spoke with Apostolos Karakasis, documentary filmmaker and president of the Department of Film at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, about the presentation of the book on Lakis Papasthathis, the director of Paraskinio – the historical and longest-running documentary series on Greek television. The book has been edited by director Katerina Evangelakou, and its presentation is taking place at the “Pavlos Zannas” hall in the Olympion building, with speakers including journalist Vena Georgopoulou, Apostolos Karakasis, director of photography Giorgos Argyroiliopoulos, and Lina Nikolakopoulou.