The Dust of Time

The Dust of Time (Greek I Skóni tou Hrónou), a 2008 drama, comes from the Greek director Theodoros Angelopoulos. A Greek, Italian and French co-production shot in English, it runs about 125 minutes. Angelopoulos directed and co-wrote it, and it was conceived as the second film of a trilogy he left unfinished. The series began in 2004 with The Weeping Meadow, and the closing chapter was never completed because of his unexpected death in January 2012.

The leads are Willem Dafoe, Irène Jacob, Bruno Ganz, Michel Piccoli and Christiane Paul, with Valentina Carnelutti, Alexandra Maria Lara and Nenad Lucic also in the cast. Angelopoulos wrote the screenplay with Tonino Guerra and Petros Markaris, and Eleni Karaindrou composed the music. By the director's own account, his films are chapters of one large book about human destiny and time.

The film had its world premiere on 12 February 2009 at the 59th Berlin Film Festival and drew praise from critics. In France it reached cinemas only on 13 February 2013, more than five years after it was finished. Known there as La Poussière du temps, it was meant to be followed by a third part, under the working title The Other Sea, which was never made.