SHORT FILM 30
The short film titled “30” is a human story that people from every corner of the world, who went through war and its consequences, can
identify with. The story is about loss, refugees, missing persons and the dramatic experience of those who lived through the tragic events
of the Turkish invasion in Cyprus, in 1974. The narrative approach of the story is represented by the mother’s silence, a silence emerging
from the depth of her soul. A silence that bleeds while fate has its own determining role in life. A silence that will convert into waiting and hope until the very end.
The shots focus on the faces of the characters, reflecting their human dimension while penetrating their souls, car-
rying questions that rise from the circumstances of what they are going through.
BELOVED DAYS
The film “Beloved”, shot in 1970 in the now Turkish-occupied village of Karmi in Cyprus, functions as the kaleidoscope of the documentary, introducing images of that magical time, and of the island’s promising future as a filming destination: a future that was terminated abruptly by the Turkish invasion of 1974. Naturally, the memories and the emotions of whoever experienced these two important events of the seventies, along with the changes that the invasion has brought into the lives and their psyche, are weaved into the documentary.
The opening landscape shots are an important element of the documentary’s filmic language, predisposing the viewer with a feeling of remembrance and nostalgia, while at the same time symbolizing the course of the characters’ lives through time. Shots, characterized by simplicity, focus on the faces of the characters, capturing their human dimension. The documentary’s atmosphere, moving between realism and fiction through the re-enacted scenes, brings out the color of a world of innocence and carelessness, while at the same time entering the inner world of the characters, and transmitting self-reflections upon their experiences.
The documentary’s music plays an important part in the narrative flow, completing its poetic approach and transmitting powerful emotions to the viewer.
Finally, an innovative element of the documentary is that the characters do not know how the story will evolve, thus capturing realistic and unexpected reactions on camera. The aim of this different narrative approach is to touch the audience on a personal level, encouraging sensitization, awareness and reflection.
HOPE AGAINST HOPELESS
This documentary “Hope against Hopeless” deals with the causes that provoke the refugee ‘waves and the trespass of Human Rights. It aims to shed light at the illegal movement of economical immigrants and refugees from Syria into Turkey and later on into Cyprus. Shocking images of immigrants at the borders of Syria and Iraq oscillate between hope and hopelessness.
Directed by Constantinos Patsalides
Research & production George Avraam
The documentary “Hope against Hopeless” aims to shed light at the illegal movement of economical immigrants and refugees from Syria to Turkey and Cyprus. Shocking images of immigrants at the borders of Syria and Iraq oscillate between hope and hopelessness.
Year of production 2006-2008
