Experiencing Interruptions?

White Mountains

The filmmaker, Alexandros Papathanasiou, travels to Crete to meet Lefteris Eliakis, a guerrilla fighter during the Greek Civil War and a political prisoner for two decades. This insightful portrait conjures the ghosts of the Civil War – the maverick people, revolutionary politics, and breathtaking events that have shaped today’s Greece.

  • Alexandros Papathanasiou
    Director
    Perspectives, Reflections
  • Alexandros Papathanasiou
    Writer
    Perspectives, Reflections
  • Giorgos Didimiotis
    Writer
    Inhabiting Summers of History
  • Babis Koffas
    Producer
  • Alexandros Papathanasiou
    Producer
    Perpectives, Reflections
  • Lefteris Eliakis
    Key Cast
  • Georgios Margaritis
    Key Cast
  • Georgios Moraitis
    Key Cast
  • Giorgos Didimiotis
    Video Editor
    Inhabiting Summers of History
  • Makis Maniadakis
    Film score
    Musafir, Once in June
  • Thodoris Ziarkas
    Film score
    Soul Food
  • Konstantinos Gdontakis
    Cinematography
    Eight Seconds
  • Alexandros Papathanasiou
    Cinematography
    Perspectives, Reflections
  • Pavlos Charbalis
    Audio Mixing
    How to Have Sex, Tomorrow Is a Long Time
  • Pavlos Charbalis
    Sound Design
    How to Have Sex, Tomorrow Is a Long Time
  • Makis Maniadakis
    Sound Design
    Musafir, Once in June
  • Carlo Ghidini
    Color
    Kosa, Celluloid Woman
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Λευκά Όρη
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 26 minutes 18 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 19, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Greece
  • Country of Filming:
    Greece
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Chania Film Festival
    Chania
    Greece
    October 23, 2024
    Festival premiere
    Special Mention For Film Showcasing Local History
  • DocFest
    Chalkida
    Greece
    November 20, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival
    Thessaloniki
    Greece
    March 7, 2025
    Official Selection
  • International Documentary Festival of Ierapetra & Awards
    Ierapetra
    Greece
    August 7, 2025
    2nd Award for Greek Feature Length Documentary
  • Greek International Film Festival Tour of Canada
    Toronto
    Canada
    September 26, 2025
    Canadian premiere
    Official selection
  • The Workers Unite Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    October 24, 2025
    United States premiere
    Audience Favorite
  • Peloponnese International Documentary Festival
    Kalamata, Peloponnese
    Greece
    November 23, 2025
    Official selection
  • San Francisco Greek Film Festival
    San Francisco
    United States
    March 14, 2026
    Official selection
Director Biography - Alexandros Papathanasiou

Alexandros Papathanasiou is a Greek-born filmmaker behind the feature documentary White Mountains, produced over 10 years and portraying the late Crete-born guerrilla fighter, political prisoner and author Lefteris Eliakis. Papathanasiou was born in Athens in 1980 and studied broadcasting and documentary filmmaking in the UK. He is a cinematographer and camera operator at Imperial College London. Previous films include the short documentary Perspectives, a portrait of Kostas Kazakos (which received an honorary award at the London Greek Film Festival), and An Uncertain Future, about the plight of Syrian refugees in Greece.

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Director Statement

Director’s statement

Lefteris Eliakis, the main character of this film, was a first-hand witness of one of the biggest historical events in Greece, which is the Civil War. Mr Eliakis, who was in his late 80s when we met, was one of the last survivors of that period who could share stories of the war and of the political climate in Greece in the mid 20th century – a time that reverberates to our present day. I had read Eliakis’s autobiography and essays about the war, and I knew he would be a captivating character who could bring this history to life on film.

This film is an attempt to preserve Eliakis’s story on film – he died in 2017 aged 93 – and tell stories of the fighters who lost their lives in the battlefield. The film also shows the impact of fascism on Greece, the remnants of which we see in society today. It is a portrait of a person, but also the portrait of a place and a time in history that we should not forget.

I submit White Mountains to the Chania Film Festival because it is the natural event for the documentary to make its world-wide premiere. In that regard, it would be an honour to have it viewed at one of Greece’s most significant film festivals and for the people of Crete to be able to see it first.