Logline

In a remote village near the Greek-Albanian borders, an exiled father becomes obsessed with a young woman’s murder.

Synopsis

Elias, a middle-aged father, arrives in his home village in Delvinaki, near the Greek-Albanian borders, after leaving behind his life in Athens. He re acquaints himself with his old friend and local police officer Kostas, and his wife Vito. At his childhood home, Elias tries to call his daughter in Athens – but she is distant, not understanding why her father left. Drunk, Elias heads to one of his old spots near the village: the giant pit in the earth. There, he sees the naked, bloodied body of a young dead woman at the bottom of the pit.

The police have no idea who she is. During the next days, Elias notices eerie footprints and bloodstains following him about. After noticing Gianogassis, an elder hunter of the village and Nasios, a young man, acting suspiciously by the roadside, the dead girl appears to Elias in his bedroom, staring at him silently, as though asking him for something.

Director’s Statement

Our protagonist, Elias, jobless and cuckold, his life falling into ruins, decides to move back to his childhood village, like a wounded animal. There, he will dwell in silence and alcohol, to forget the life he leaves behind. The story calls on the viewer to share this man’s journey as someone who has lost it all and looks for something to hold on to. As viewers, we will feel his burden, his responsibilities in the life he is trying to forget and the guilt he tries to overcome.

Our childhood location always carries something solidified, something that has stayed untouched by time. This location will be the film’s universe, where the forgotten becomes one with present, where life and death co-exist.

Starting with wide establishing shots, we gradually focus on the landscape that swallows our protagonist. The gigantic mountain range, the forest, the snow, will all act as the backdrop where Elias will mark his silence and empty space. The shots are still, frozen. The grayness of the stone-walled houses will prevail in the color palette, with a tonal range of blue and the white from the snow as underlining accents. The rhythm will moves as slowly as the time passes for Elias, almost disconnected from reality.

His face and his eyes become the canvas of the battle inside him, as the silence of nature has now moved in the background.

His final decision to take the blame or not, whatever he decides, will be heroic and at the same time, self-destructive and bitter. His dilemma becomes ours, and while feeling sorry, one could also admire him. Reality though will remain unchanged, the damage has been done.

Mina Dreki – Producer

Short bio of Director

Christos is a film director based in Athens, Greece. An avid film buff as a child, he went on to study directing and cinematography in Athens, entering the film business before even completing his studies. He has worked as an assistant director with some of the most prominent directors both in Greece and overseas, including Costa-Gavras, Park Chan-Wook, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Nikos Nikolaides, and Yannis Economides. He has directed short films and a feature documentary and is now ready to make his debut feature film. Known for: DREAM TOY 13‘ (2015) Short, DIRECTING HELL 79’ GREECE / Documentary (2011), THE FIGURES OF ENORMOUS GREY 5’ GREECE / SHORT (2014)