TO KALOKAIRI TIS KARMEN (THE SUMMER WITH CARMEN)
By Zacharias Mavroeidis, Xenofon Chalatsis Prod. Greece Running time 106 min
Demosthenes (Yorgos Tsiantoulas) is enjoying a beautiful day on the queer beach in Athens. He is helping his friend and aspiring filmmaker Nikitas (Andreas Lampropoulos) to develop an idea for his first feature film, inspired by the stories of a dog. Two summers earlier, Demosthenes had to stop in Athens to be near his ailing father. An excuse to meet Panos, the ex who had taken with him, precisely, a little dog named Karmen. A decision he soon regretted. Like Demosthenes, who seemed to regret breaking up with Panos. Committed to turning real-life events into a hero’s journey, the two friends question the main rule of screenplay theory, namely, that the hero can change and, in the process, turn their enduring friendship around. “It’s a play about how vain it is to know oneself,” says Zacharias Mavroeidis, “It’s a work that observes a complex and multifaceted type of relationship that rarely takes centre stage in cinematic narratives.
Tiziana Leone
