“Drifting Cities” screening in tribute to Robert Manthoulis

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Georges was the guest of honor at a screening of the first episode of “Drifting Cities” (The Club) in memory of Robert Manthoulis (1929-2022) and gave a master class over the 4 days of screenings and encounters of the Zagori International Fiction Days Festival in Vitsa, Greece from October 14 to 16, 2022.

The Athens Cinematheque also made a tribute to Robert Manthoulis in May 2022.

http://www.tainiothiki.gr/en/12tributes/robert-manthoulis-man-with-a-movie-camera/59-movies/1431-drifting-cities-the-club-1st-episode

“This is the first episode of the TV series Drifting cities, adapted by Manthoulis from Stratis Tsirkas’s trilogy by the same name. The Club is set in Jerusalem during the Second World War and narrates the interacting stories of its heroes who belong to different nationalities, religions and ideologies. They all stay in a Babel-like pension. Acquaintances, fake friendships, dislikes, fights, secrets, passions and loneliness characterize their daily life. Manthoulis had a brilliant cast, George Corraface, Marina Vlady, Juliana Samarin and Christos Tsagas. Denny Vahlioti designed the costumes and Nikos Smaragdis was the cinematographer. The cosmopolitan atmosphere, the shooting on location in Jerusalem, the music of George Moustaki and the Durrellian intrigue made it one of most successful serials in French TV.”

The series was appreciated for its artistic film direction (extreme long shots and pacing) its elegant cinematography, its glamorous locations, its exotic multilingual characters who pass through Jerusalem during World War II, and above all, its evocative, erotic atmosphere accompanied by the Georges Moustaki’s nostalgic film score.

In 1971, in France, Drifting Cities by Stratis Tsirkas was awarded the prize for the best foreign book by the Literary Critics.

A television adaptation (Cités à la Dérive) was made by Robert Manthoulis in 1984 (broadcast on TF1 during the 80s and on FR3 in the early 90s) with Georges Corraface in the role of Manos Simonidis.

The Greek version had 12 episodes; the one for French television had only 8, the more political parts of the film having been reduced.

During the 80’s “Drifting Cities” became a cult series for night viewers because of its multiple reruns after midnight.