To commemorate the Athens Polytechnic uprising that began with a student strike on November 14, 1973, the Hellenic Canadian Academic Association of Ontario will be hosting a screening of Tragoudia tis fotias (Greek for "Songs of Fire"), a 1975 documentary and musical film made by Nikos Koundouros. The film opens with a footage from a demonstration commemorating the polytechnic student uprising, and the aftermath following the fall of the military dictatorship, also known as the Regime of the Colonels (1967–1974).

The film documents three large public concerts and demonstrations immediately after the dictatorship's collapse, capturing the enthusiasm for the end of dictatorship and the promise of the new democracy. University students were central to the struggle, mobilizing under the slogan, "Bread-Education-Freedom". Popular songs became the means by which the popular demand for democracy was expressed during the early stages of the transition from dictatorship to democracy. The film helps establish a narrative of resistance in the collective memory centred on singing and listening, performed collectively and publicly. University students in Greece continue to mark November 17 with protests, performances and music.

Date: Friday, November 28, 2025
Time: 2:30pm ET
Location: Nick Mirkoupoulos Screening Room (Accolade East 004).

Introduced by Kostis Kornetis (Zoom), author of Children of the Dictatorship: Student resistance, cultural politics and the ‘long 1960s' in Greece (2022). Assistant Professor of Contemporary History, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid.

Spaces are limited—please register here.