To Kokkino Potami (Greek: Το Κόκκινο Ποτάμι, English title: The Red River) is a Greek-language historical television series, directed by Manousos Manousakis for Open TV in 2019,[1] based on the homonymous historical novel by Charis Tsirkinidis, and concerns real events surrounding the Greek Genocide.
| To Kokkino Potami | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama History Romance |
| Created by | Charis Tsirkinidis |
| Written by | Nikos Apiranthitis Dora Masklavanou Manousos Manousakis |
| Directed by | Manousos Manousakis |
| Starring | Ioannis Papazisis Anastasia Pantousi Tania Tripi Konstantinos Kazakos Takis Vamvakidis Tatiana Papamoschou Argiris Pantazaras Chara Mata Giannatou |
| Theme music composer | Christos Papadopoulos |
| Opening theme | Kokkino Potami performed by Eleonora Zouganeli |
| Ending theme | Kokkino Potami performed by Eleonora Zouganeli |
| Country of origin | Greece |
| Original languages |
|
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 37 |
| Production | |
| Production locations | Greece France Russia |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 41-44 minutes |
| Production company | Telekinisi S.A. |
| Release | |
| Original network | Open TV |
| Picture format | HDTV 1080i |
| Audio format | Dolby Digital 5.1 |
| Original release | October 6, 2019 (2019-10-06) – present |
This is the most expensive production in the history of Greek television with a total cost of over 4 million euros.
On October 6, 2019, Open TV started broadcasting To Kokkino Potami every Sunday at 9:00pm. It continued on May 24, 2020, after the break because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece, at 10:00pm. The last episode was broadcast on July 13, 2020.[2]
Starred by Ioannis Papazisis, Anastasia Pantousi, Tania Tripi, Konstantinos Kazakos, Takis Vamvakidis, Tatiana Papamoschou, Argiris Pantazaras and Chara Mata Giannatou.[3][4][5][6]
The series is about a love story at the beginning of the 20th century, during the years of persecution of the Greeks of Pontus by the Ottoman Empire. The story begins in the town of Akdağmadeni in the Prefecture of Ankara, in May 1895, when the family of Georgios Pavlidis is engaged to their 9-year-old son, Miltos, to the 7-year-old Iphigenia, daughter of Michalis Nikolaidis.
An engagement of expediency, as was customary at that time, as, according to Muslim law, if a girl was engaged, she was considered dishonored and was not allowed to become a Muslim woman. The attacks of the fanatical Turks forced the two families to leave their place, with the Pavlidis family settling in Samsun and the Nikolaidis family in Constantinople. The two young people met by chance again in Constantinople, after 11 years and, without knowing the family relationship that binds them, they fell in love.[7]
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 32 | October 6, 2019 (2019-10-06) | July 13, 2020 (2020-07-13) | |
| 2 | TBA | October 2, 2022 (2022-10-02) | TBA | |
Most of the indoors scenes were made in studios. Some scenes were shot in St. Petersburg, Russia and Paris, France. Despite much of the series being set in Pontus, Turkey many scenes that include the town of Sampsounta (Samsun) were filmed in the old town of Xanthi, in northern Greece while others were made in Trikala and Veria. Also a few scenes that include Pontians that were hanged, were shot at the former retirement home in Athens (Gyrokomeio). Also it is noted that the scenes set on the platforms of the Paris train station Gare du Nord were most probably filmed in the main railway station of Athens, Larissa Station. A fun fact is that a goat appeared while making the series and it was adopted by one of the actors who named it Potamaki.