By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
In Russia, the movie “Going Vertical” about the 1972 Olympic Games final already created buzz and in Greece the movie “1968” made its official premiere this week and will open in theaters around the country on the 25th of January.
The movie is about the European cup winners final of 1968, a game which was played in front of 80.000 fans in Athens’ Panathenaic Stadium, the home of the first modern Olympic Games.
AEK BC became the first Greek club to win a European title playing against the Czech club Slavia Prague of legendary Jiri Zidek. This was also the first year of Greek military junta (1967–1974) and the movie uses the game as the core in order to describe the political and social situation of the country.
Actor Alexandros Americanos, the nephew of AEK’s star at the time Giorgos Americanos, is playing his uncle in the movie.
FIBA Europe’s Secretary General Kamil Noval, who is also a Czech, was present in the premiere of “1968” along with the surviving members of Slavia Prague’s team at the time.
EuroLeague legend and Eurohoops Academy director Theodoros Papaloukas was among the personalities invited in the official premiere.
“Playing in front of 80.000 fans is a big thing. I don’t know if I could have been a player back then, the conditions were different, the athletes were not professional. They were heroes. It’s an emotional movie, it’s the start of the Greek basketball history which continues in our days”.