My director's notes on 25.12
25.12
"Directing is so interesting. You know, it just sort of encompasses everything that you see, that you know, that you've felt, that you have observed. " Barbara Streisand
As our population is ageing there are a number of issues that are becoming prevalent in our society, Dementia is one of them, but alongside this, is the individual who remains healthy and able, but finds themselves in a predicament of loneliness. Our ageing population may not be tech savvy, therefore cannot stay in touch with family and friends via social media, Skype, may not live in close proximity to public transport, have family that is removed, friends, who may be sick or passed. The variations are many for our ageing population and in creating this short, I wanted to create a film that delved into the innermost thoughts and concepts of someone that is ageing and literally has no one to share their life with. What does this look like, especially with a day like Christmas, which is traditionally spent with family and friends?
I was given the short Story, 'Christmas', written by Thanasis Papastergiou, a writer and filmmaker in his own right who had studied at the Moscow Film School, and the story resonated with me. Even though, I am not as old as the man depicted in the short film, I have experienced loneliness, know what it is like, and so wanted to adapt the film to the story. It was a wonderful challenge for me, and all the time I kept on thinking that the importance of the film surely had to be in the development of the protagonist's psychology, his surrounding landscape, a reflection of this too and characters that had become such a big part of his life, past and present, real life and imagination.
In order that this was achieved, I looked to the concepts of surrealism, adopted some of the surrealist's imagery pertaining to time and randomness, and infiltrated them in the film, using colour to further exemplify this artistic stream. Flashbacks also became an important element in being able to identify moments in Leonidas' life where his thoughts wandered to. The cinematography and the discussion regarding this was of utmost importance and Con Filippidis rose to the challenge in capturing each frame to become an art piece within itself. The colourist Jordan Wood, identified the starkness of various colours in portraying the protagonist's mood and demeanour as he progressed on his journey.
For those that have seen it, the film has resonated with them, touched an aspect of their humanity in that they have realised that in order to live and age comfortably in this world, it needs to be done so with a strong social network. I look forward to many audiences experiencing this small but important journey that Leonidas goes through, and in the words that became so important when my daughter, Juliette Dimadis, and myself were working hard to come up with a quote that revolved around reality and our illusions she spurred me on to come up with this..."In order to discover our reality we must explore our illusions", so apt but true.
Stella DimadisJuly 2015
25.12
"Directing is so interesting. You know, it just sort of encompasses everything that you see, that you know, that you've felt, that you have observed. " Barbara Streisand
As our population is ageing there are a number of issues that are becoming prevalent in our society, Dementia is one of them, but alongside this, is the individual who remains healthy and able, but finds themselves in a predicament of loneliness. Our ageing population may not be tech savvy, therefore cannot stay in touch with family and friends via social media, Skype, may not live in close proximity to public transport, have family that is removed, friends, who may be sick or passed. The variations are many for our ageing population and in creating this short, I wanted to create a film that delved into the innermost thoughts and concepts of someone that is ageing and literally has no one to share their life with. What does this look like, especially with a day like Christmas, which is traditionally spent with family and friends? I was given the short Story, 'Christmas', written by Thanasis Papastergiou, a writer and filmmaker in his own right who had studied at the Moscow Film School, and the story resonated with me. Even though, I am not as old as the man depicted in the short film, I have experienced loneliness, know what it is like, and so wanted to adapt the film to the story. It was a wonderful challenge for me, and all the time I kept on thinking that the importance of the film surely had to be in the development of the protagonist's psychology, his surrounding landscape, a reflection of this too and characters that had become such a big part of his life, past and present, real life and imagination.
In order that this was achieved, I looked to the concepts of surrealism, adopted some of the surrealist's imagery pertaining to time and randomness, and infiltrated them in the film, using colour to further exemplify this artistic stream. Flashbacks also became an important element in being able to identify moments in Leonidas' life where his thoughts wandered to. The cinematography and the discussion regarding this was of utmost importance and Con Filippidis rose to the challenge in capturing each frame to become an art piece within itself. The colourist Jordan Wood, identified the starkness of various colours in portraying the protagonist's mood and demeanour as he progressed on his journey.
For those that have seen it, the film has resonated with them, touched an aspect of their humanity in that they have realised that in order to live and age comfortably in this world, it needs to be done so with a strong social network. I look forward to many audiences experiencing this small but important journey that Leonidas goes through, and in the words that became so important when my daughter, Juliette Dimadis, and myself were working hard to come up with a quote that revolved around reality and our illusions she spurred me on to come up with this..."In order to discover our reality we must explore our illusions", so apt but true.
Stella DimadisJuly 2015
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