Greece’s Gender Divide: Femicide Through the Lens

How do films and the media shape our understanding of violence against women and what does it distract us from? This all-female panel brings together former Judge Betty Iliadou, Dr. Tonia Kazakopoulou and Dr. Afroditi Koulaxi to examine how coverage of femicide, centered on victimanhood and emotional spectacle, can distract from political and legislative failures and even shape judicial verdicts. The discussion is grounded in two emblematic Greek films recently screened at The Garden Cinema as part of their ongoing Greek Salad film strand: Mihalis Cacoyannis’ Stella (1955), whose heroine defies misogynist convention even as the film remains shaped by the male gaze, and Tonia Marketaki’s John the Violent (1973), which uses a real-life murder as a springboard for a feminist inquiry that feels startlingly radical decades on. Using excerpts from both films as a starting point for their conversation, our speakers ask how the moral codes of the 1950s and 60s still echo today, touching on gender inequality, patriarchy, and the ways violence against women continues to be justified.

This event builds on our 2025 event, Greece’s Gender Divide: Unmasking the Crisis of Femicides.

The Q&A is moderated by Erifili Missiou, Filmmaker and Head Curator & Programmer at The Garden Cinema, London.

Presented in collaboration with The Garden Cinema.