Three years after the completion of his previous movie (With Heart and Soul, 2009) Pantelis Voulgaris defies the harsh economic situation, that has deeply influenced cinema in our country (among others), and starts the shoots for his new movie.

The movie will contain three distinct stories that take place in three different regions of Northern Greece (Naousa, Feres, Argos Orestiko).

Two of the three tales are still under construction, with their portion of the screenplay being in a very premature state. According to Pantelis Voulgaris in the small borderline city of Feres we’ll be “acquainted” with a retired minesweeper, while in Argos Orestiko the story will take place during a huge traditional urban market.

The first and more complete (script-wise) part of the movie is based on the true story of Aris, a forester in Naousa, who is a former “Genitsaros” traditional dance group leader (an honoury title of big importance among Naousa residents).

This segment takes place in Naousa, during the week before Aris (the character is impersonated by Aris Servetalis) decides to leave to Australia as an economic immigrant chasing  a better future. The climax of the week is the second Sunday of the traditional custom “Genitsaroi & Boules” (a spectacular ancient tradition that survives for centuries, influenced by time of course, and is still celebrated in Naousa for three consecutive Sundays every February), in which Aris will dance for the last time as a group leader, before his permanent departure... Leaving behind his family, friends and traditions of the place he was born and raised to.

In one of our meetings Mr. Voulgaris had told me that he wanted to do a movie without the burden of a big production on his shoulders (e.g. Brides, 2004), a task that was costly, extremely time-consuming and rather cumbersome. He needed to do something immediate, while the idea was “hot and alive”, just like when he shot “It’s a long road” (1998) one of his movies that he really enjoyed filming.

This explains to a great degree the reason why he has begun the shoots in Naousa, before the completion of his new screenplay...

Mr.Voulgaris’ plan was to capture now the images of the traditional custom that he needed and would otherwise be very difficult to stage (hundrends of dancers wearing their traditional costumes and thousands of people watching them dance through the whole city), thus avoiding the wait till next year in order to finish the movie.

And so we did...

I consider myself fortunate and honoured of having the opportunity to be one of his associates in these first shootings, knowing that he trusted me with the position of 2nd assistant director even though my cinematographic experience was limited in short films only. 

During those 11 days we stayed in Naousa, he kept pointing out that everything is “in play” and that he still has lots of ideas that need to be processed before finalizing the structure of his screenplay. Always open minded to proposals and ideas by his associates, various interesting discussions took place concerning alternative narrations.

For example, the movie could be a multi-character canvas about people living in Naousa, thematically connected by their struggle to survive the economic crisis (a daily routine for the residents of this city during the last 15 years!). 

Another alternative could be the extension of the current 1st segment of the movie, making it the main plot, given the fact that Mr. Voulgaris received very positive feedback after narrating the story of Aris to the crew and some Naousa residents.