Nikos Panayotopoulos

Close-ups and medium fixed camera shots of a man dressed in Liza Minelli’ clothes, who mimes to a recording of the music hall song “Life is a Cabaret”. In the soundtrack, the iconical reading of a text exposing the ideological clichés of a family soap opera in a state of crisis. “My little boy, alas, is gay…”.

In the mid-80s, Aegokeros publishing house intended to publish a magazine about film and the theater. Theo Angelopoulos and Nikos Panayotopoulos had been chosen by the editorial board for the first issue. A summer evening at Angelopoulos house in the Mati area, Antonis Kokkinos and Yannis Soldatos recorded a three-hour interview between Theo and Nikos, within the frameworks set for them, in order to be included in the magazine. The interview brought to the fore their common course, even though completely opposite from one point onward. Thirty-five years later, the unpublished conversation has been found; both the tapes and the transcripts! This conversation stands as a valuable manifestation of the creators’ views regarding their own, until then, existing and future work, as well as a thorough insight into the New Greek Cinema, and into World Cinema in general.

A Documentary about Nikos Nikolaidis' work. Nikos Nikolaidis was an acclaimed film director and author from Greece. He is famous for creating controversial characters in his films that have a rebellious attitude towards the social and political status quo. He illustrates a dark and pessimistic present and future, but also providing ambiguous hope for the end when his heroes find their escape in death. His films are shocking and contentious, raising questions during times when political visions start to fade away. His filming was poetic, dynamic and aesthetically beautiful in order to present situations on edge and elicit his audience's feelings. The aim of this project is to transfer his dynamics in a documentary that will convey some of his messages and create a platform for exchanging opinions among filmmakers from all over the world, in an effort to decipher his universe and his symbols as reflections of his unique and rare personality.