The proceeds from this book will support the Pan-Messinian Association’s long-standing commitment to Greek education via dance for the continuation of the Hellenic culture. Kalamata ’21
Copies can be picked up at:
1121 O’Connor Dr, Toronto, ON M4B 2T5 / 416.854.5555
Greek-Canadian Dannis Koromilas on His Book Kalamata ’21
Article taken from THE NATIONAL HERALD
NEW YORK – Dannis Koromilas, author and filmmaker, spoke with The National Herald about his book Kalamata ’21, released for the bicentennial of the start of the Greek Revolution, and his upcoming film projects. As Koromilas noted, his father “was born in Poliani, Messinia, probably a few houses away from where Papaflessas, the priest/warrior/leader of the Messinians during 1821 was born.”
Koromilas is based in Toronto, Canada, where he lives with his wife Dani (ancestry from Calabria, Italy) and their two sons, aged 13 and a half and 12.
TNH: How long did the book take from idea to publication?
Dannis Koromilas: Kalamata ’21 is an anthology, and I selected certain diaries and journals from the 1821-1827 period to reflect what the actual heroes of the time were expressing. All in all, I would say that the development and research was a full year, added to the five years of Greece Year Zero (GYZ) and a continuation of my research for GYZ, my essay film which begins at the 1821 point. The actual writing was six months; in other words, very crammed, honestly, to attempt an epic subject like the Greek Revolution.
And yet, we have been very clear that this is just a springboard of sorts, to move deeper into much more dense and prolific works which Greek historians have tackled. 1821 is the reason that Greece exists, so of course, it is a captivating theme. The problem I discovered was that most Greeks believed they conquered their Ottoman overlords, and became free, in a day. That is what I thought to believe the truth, but that was Greek School in the 1970’s.
Please wake up Greeks. If our heroes had won that many battles, 100 versus 1000, a thousand versus 8,000, should not have Greece skipped the European Monarchies, and gone straight for Moscow, and captured all of Eastern Europe? But no, they did not. So this book is what we have deemed a Souvenir Book, to let people launch off of, to gain more knowledge and insight.
TNH: What was your writing process like?
DK: Manic and consuming. I had scheduled a film shoot and interviews at the Kalamata War Museum for July 2020, after visiting in December 2019. But COVID collapsed all those plans, and actually negated our legendary plans in Toronto for the Pan Messinian Celebration of the 200 years, which we celebrate on March 23rd every year. Anticipating the reality, George Vlahakis, the President of the Pan Messinians in Toronto committed to a book version of the film. Of course, it is smaller in scope, and really focuses only on the Peloponnese experience during the war, but with a pandemic taking its toll, both Vlahakis and I struck a balance between the ambitious plans we had, and the pragmatic expectations to do something of merit and tribute. Thus Kalamata ’21.