The Great Fire of Salonica: Birth of a City

Thessaloniki was burned to the ground in August 1917 amidst WWI. A single spark from an unattended fireplace in a refugee’s shack next to the city walls will bring havoc to the metropolis and its multinational inhabitants. From the ashes a new city will rise, modern, ambitious and cut off from her multicultural past. 32 hours the fire raged burning half of the city and all of its commercial district. 9,500 buildings were burned and destroyed. 70,000 citizens were left roofless. 52,000 Jews, 11,000 Muslims and 10,000 Christians. It is the beginning of the end for the thriving Jewish community.

  • Gregory Vardarinos
    Director
  • Anastasia Bartzoulianou
    Writer
  • Filippos Mandilaras
    Writer
  • Gregory Vardarinos
    Writer
  • Gregory Vardarinos
    Producer
  • Dimitris Tsilinikos
    Key Cast
    "Narration"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Θεσσαλονίκη 1917: η φωτιά που γέννησε μια πόλη
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    History, Jewish, Drama
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 2 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 10, 2017
  • Country of Origin:
    Greece
  • Country of Filming:
    Greece
  • Language:
    Modern Greek (1453-)
  • Shooting Format:
    2K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 11th DocFest Greece
    Halkida
    Greece
    November 23, 2017
    Greek Premiere
    Special Mention Award
  • 4th International Documentary Festival of Peloponnisos
    Kalamata
    Greece
    January 29, 2018
    Audience Award
  • 20th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
    Thessaloniki
    Greece
    March 11, 2018
Director Biography - Gregory Vardarinos

MA Film Directing Edinburgh College of Art, Onassis Foundation scholarship 2010
Berlinale Talent Campus 2017
Robert Bosch Foundation scholarship 2016
“Talking Piranhas” (2010, short) BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award nomination
“Mehmet” (2010, short)
“Krito the Acrobat” (2013, short)
“The Noir Project” (2014, short)
“In Wood We Trust” (2015, short)

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Director Statement

A documentary based exclusively on original archival material that it is presented for first time to the audience in HD.
A documentary telling the experiences of the inhabitants of Thessaloniki during the largest and most destructive fire in the history of the city.
A documentary that reveals the philosophy and backstage of the enormous settlement change that followed, as the fire was the occasion for the rebuilding of the modern city, as we know it today.