Stella Grammenos-Dimadis Blog

"I'm drawn to filmmaking that can transport me.  Film can immerse you, put you there." Kathryn Bigelow 25.12 What began as a discussion with Antonios Baxevanidis on the wonderful writer Thanasis Papastergiou ended up throwing me on a journey of psychological exploration, in particular when I began to read CHRISTMAS, a short story by Thanasis Papastergiou.  What I encountered was a surreal story, very visual, on an ageing man confronted with loneliness on Christmas Day.  In order to fill his life with some semblance of normality, he prepares gifts, organises a luncheon for his family and attempts to connect with them.  Through the story the audience witnesses a man grappling with reality, emotional torment, illusion and the power of his ancestors on his state of mind.  This got me thinking about reality and I figured that in order to discover our reality, we much explore our illusions, thus began the adaptation of 'Christmas

Art in its perfection is not ostentatious; it lies hid, and works its effect, itself unseen.-Joshua Reynolds 1774 From the moment that my prep teacher gave me some crayons and butcher paper at the age of five, without a word of English to be able to communicate to her and say 'thank you' I immediately gained an understanding of the universal language of art. I found freedom. Whereas before I was constrained in being able to express myself I now had the tools to tell, what seemed to me to be the world, what I was seeing, feeling, noticing and appreciating. I was given wings in the true sense of the word. I began to fly and from that moment onwards I never stopped. Creating all forms of art for me is how I function, mentally and physically; it is my way to express myself in all aspects of life. Thus at five years of age my passion for the Arts was formed and has stayed with me ever since. It makes sense to note that when Winston Churchill was asked to cut a