This anniversary event featured seven short films and a documentary titled Eternal Desires: The world of C. P. Cavafy, from Alexandria to New York , directed by Christos Sarris. The production, owned by Onassis Culture , examines the contemporary relevance of Cavafy through the axes of desire, loss, identity and love.

This work, which made its debut on PBS’s All Arts platform earlier in April, is an outgrowth of the Archive of Desire festival hosted in 2023 at the New Museum in New York . There, the Onassis Foundation, after years of work documenting and showcasing the Cavafy Archive, staged a cultural event with international impact.

Through the Visual Cavafy series, contemporary creators from around the world artistically confront Cavafy’s work. Laurie Anderson, Julianne Moore, Taylor Mac, Evi Kalogiropoulou , and many more artists are inspired by his poetic language and create contemporary cinematic transcriptions of his poems.

The films in the Visual Cavafy section transform poetry into image and sound, highlighting the timelessness of Cavafy’s themes: the search for the self, the politics of identity, sensuality and the existential question. The films are directed by Elena Park and Christos Sarris , while important names in art and music such as Rufus Wainwright, Nick Cave, Caroline Shaw, Bob Faust and others participate.

The documentary Eternal Desires and the short films are now available for free viewing on onassis.org and the Onassis Channel on YouTube , offering a unique immersive experience into one of the most globally recognized Greek poets.