ABSTRACT
Ethnic identity is not an exclusive immutable essence but a symbolic construct devised to describe the nation and its culture in the process of becoming.1 Nationalist ideology however, in its eagerness to assert the distinctiveness of national culture, constructs the image of a homogeneous nation rooted in a specific time and geographic location, serving the political project of nation-state building. Numerous films make a strong case for considering Greek cinema as a reflection of the struggle of a young nation to work out a coherent national image for local and international consumption. Greek film directors often draw on the nation’s rich cultural heritage, imagined as spanning millennia. They do so in a conversation with a number of discourses on Greek identity, particularly with the narrative of Greekness (Ellinikótita), which sought to identify a distinct national culture purified of foreign influences.2 Like their counterparts in architecture,3 language,4 and literature, Greek filmmakers engage with various understandings of Hellenism in their quest to define national identity.
