In the dynamic world of contemporary filmmaking, the journey from an initial spark of inspiration to the final cut is varied and fascinating. Our featured filmmaker, Antonios Vallindras, whose works explore diverse genres and themes, offers an insightful look into his creative process, influences, and the evolving landscape of his craft. With a rich background in collaborating with diverse artists and mentors, this journey has been marked by profound discoveries and deep personal connections to the subject. Join us as we delve into the mind of Antonios, exploring the nuances of his most meaningful works, the messages he aims to convey, and the ever-evolving nature of his directing style.

✧ ✧ ✧

Can you recall specific instances where someone's unique interpretation of your work provided you with a new perspective or insight?

In 2022, I got the ARTWORKS fellowship of SNF, which operates both as an award for emerging artists, and as a community, where artists from different fields get to be and grow together. This year was significant for me, as it gave me the opportunity to get to know and collaborate with Greek artists with diverse practices, that varied in research subjects and mediums. The program also allocated a mentor to every fellow; the mentor would work closely and generate a dialogue with the artist’s practice, in order for their work to grow further. Menelaos Karamaghiolis, was my mentor. I believe that his guidance and honest attention to my work, acted like a psychological boost; it helped me a lot over that period.

 

The most important lesson I learned through Menelaos was not to limit my practice by setting strict boundaries or axes.

 

Later, I was invited by him and the Athens based collective, DØCUMATISM to collaborate on various projects. I very much enjoyed our moments together. I was given full creative freedom to use the camera as a medium which allows us to engage with the stories of human and non-human beings, with the vernaculars of various neighborhoods, with the reality of social injustices, with emotions such as sadness, happiness, or even awkwardness. The camera became the medium to actually touch, visually and otherwise, a new world where moving image and contemporary art coexist, allowing for new forms of expression.

 

In October 2023 we traveled to the Center D’ Art Contemporain Geneve, to document the solo exhibition “Re/member Your House” that showcased the bodies of work that Menelaos & the collective DØCUMATISM have been doing over the past years. The documentaries exhibited at the museum were accompanied by a performative act; the performers were all Athenian.

 

I remember that during the performance, I could sense the impact that the performance had to the audience, which actually felt as a reminder of the resonances between art and sociopolitical subjects; and along as a reminder that we, artists, are responsible for bridging this gap between that which is supposedly unnoticed and the a priori avant garde.

 

Another collaboration that did affect my work, has again started through Menelaos’ ongoing project “Greekies”. It all since then, found its rhythm, and at the moment, we’re working together on a short documentary, operating as a continuation of some sort of the main project Greekies. The short documentary is about a metal/scrap recycling company owned by a Greek/Roma community. The company is located in Aspropyrgos in the outskirts of Attiki. The main road going across Aspropyrgos, is the N.A.T.O. avenue. The area surrounding it, is full of unknown and most of the time still invisible stories and characters. The project’s main goal is to address vital and urgent social issues, through various artistic forms and to stay with and solidarity with the voices of vulnerable social groups. But anyway, almost everything with regard to my collaboration with DØCUMATISM reminded me that (artistic) filmmaking can claim its space in the world, that it’s worth to be seen and valued more often. And this is something, I always keep in mind: we don’t necessarily always have to wait until a project gets funded in order to engage with our surroundings, aesthetically, visually, thematically. We can always take our cameras and just film and observe and that’s creation. And to be honest, at the end of the day, I might have anyway forgotten which my exact filming purpose was. So, the answer to this new insight, would be that through these encounters and thoughts following them, I realized, that I want to live longer. And through filmmaking that’s actually possible.

Could you tell us about the most meaningful piece of work that you have created? What makes this piece particularly significant to you, and what was the inspiration or story behind it?

Few days ago I was at home working on a new short film with the still-wipped title “Kiatochella”. I was about to upload all the required documents to the platform of the Greek Film Center – I was applying for a funding, when my artistic partner and collaborator in all projects, Vasia Ntoulia, told me about a conversation she recently had with the DoP Michalis Gkatzogias, with whom I have collaborated in numerous projects in the past. “White Christmas 1948” (2022), is among them, and it was funded by the Greek Film Center and ERT (the national broadcasting channel of Greece).

 

Anyway. Over their conversation, he said to Vasia, that the most important film that I have directed up to today, is the student film that I worked on while studying film at Bournemouth University in the UK. It’s called “The life of a Sober Man” (2015) and it’s a mockumentary that investigates the possibility of a man turning into a monkey. The title of the film, was inspired by the life of the writer, Alberto Olivieri, who was always sober, never had a zip from an alcoholic drink. When he mentioned this reality to me, I thought to myself: how is it possible for someone to never drink? Our conversation led me to the idea of making a mockumentary about a sober man. And so, it all started; along with the editor of the film, Daphne Gastaldo, we wrote the script and we moved to production after.

 

The reason why I’m saying this story, is because Michalis’ comment on this film of mine, stayed with me for a while. And reflecting on the reasons why it did, I realized that probably it’s the film’s honesty that allows such an engagement with the film, and perhaps such a comment. And in that way, probably it is the most significant work of mine, as its statement and story reside in my own agonies, and history and autoethnography. This film talks about the fact that it’s impossible for me to exist in the corporate world and it was made after having this exact realization which led me to leave my 9-5 job from a corporate company, in order to pursue a career in film making.

 

Probably the reason why I did not pay attention to this film for all these years is because it was made with very few resources gathered from a crowdfunding, where mainly friends and family were the “crowd”. So, technically, visually, or photographically, it’s not perfect. Yet, and still, it was a very meaningful experience for all of us, crew. Back then, we were all still learning.

Discuss the importance of messaging and the audience’s understanding of it. How crucial is it for your audience to grasp the message behind your work? Do you create with a specific message in mind, and how do you gauge its reception?

For me messaging is one thing, understanding is another. I mean by saying that I have the full responsibility for the audience to grasp the meaning(s) of my work, I automatically erase the audience’s agency, energy, multiple identities. For me it’s important to deliver what’s crucial to me and for the audience to carry the responsibility to understand what’s crucial for them.

 

And I guess that’s where freedom lies, or that’s where the powerful qualities of art reside; to this exact in between space of what I want to say and what the other, any kind of other, wants to understand, or needs to feel. And for me that’s like magic almost. It allows so many interpretations of a supposedly concrete meaning that is mesmerizing.

Describe your artistic process from conception to completion. Could you walk us through the steps of your process, starting from the initial idea to the finished piece? How do you develop your concepts, and what are the key stages in creating your final work?

I try to keep myself busy, always. I live under the illusion that if I keep myself constantly on the move, I will be more productive and creative. It was only recently, that I realized that I’m lying to myself. The past few years the only moments that I was truly creative was when I didn’t have a job, that I was broke and a bit depressed. And in between the process of doing a LinkedIn research that could get me a 9 - 5 job and thinking if I have made a huge mistake when deciding to pursue a career in film making, an idea comes to mind.

 

Usually, it’s something that neither I experienced, nor heard (or read) about. The first person with whom I discuss the idea with, is the director Vasia Ntoulia. We live together, so we’re often in a similar mood. The next step is to consult Alexandra Dyranis - Maounis (writer) to make sure that the idea stands alone. Is there a motive to the character(s)? Is there an insight incident? Will the audience feel attached to/ engage with the character (s)? Those are some of the questions that arise over our sessions.

 

And then I finally, stay alone with the idea. Usually I like to go to a cafe, listen to music and start writing, figuring out if the story, if this idea, can actually be a film. If the answer is yes and if I’m all in psychically, I start thinking about the funding possibilities. Will the film’s production be expensive or, can it work as a no budget film? The truth, anyway, is that the moment you get out of the house with the camera, spending money is almost inevitable, so having no budget is most of the time not possible. And then it’s time for the actual production. This is the part of the process where I focus on most as it requires a lot of energy.

 

While working on the production, there is a pivotal moment where you understand that not moving forward with the film is not an option, as the consequences of making such a decision will be quite many. At this stage you are already too deep, and you can just hope for the best. The post production is where I get a bit looser, yet I always need help to finish with a project. Usually, Vasia Ntoulia, edits all the projects on which we collaborate, and with the support of Iasonas Meintanis (VFX, Color Correction & DoP) we manage to bring the project to life. I don’t believe that I am doing something special during the process. The steps are more or less the same for all filmmakers. But in some projects, mainly on the ones where there is hardly any budget, I follow my gut.

 

I try to enjoy the process as much as possible, and to invest my time and energy in finding how the story will come out, have its own life.

How has your directing style evolved? Can you describe the journey and changes in your approach and methods over the years? What are your aspirations for your style and technique moving forward? What have been the significant influences or learning experiences that have shaped your evolution as a director?

I’ll start with my first project, which was titled “Sundness = Sunday + Sadness” and it was a short documentary. It was tracing the sense of melancholy that might show up in the afternoon and that culminates over the day, until the night comes and you experience an intense emotional shift and finally an abrupt drop back to reality. When I worked on that film, I was a full-time employee in an advertising agency, therefore most of my inspiration was coming from ads. And I guess that the same influences and aesthetics appear also on my second film “The secret charm of the toilet”.

 

Later, and whilst I was studying at Bournemouth University, I was influenced by Danny Boyle and Wes Anderson. For a year all my works were focusing or were affected by these references or spectrums. By the end of that first year and right before I start filming “The Life Of a Sober Man”, I shifted towards visual theses of filmmakers like Alejandro Jodorowsky and Luis Buñuel. I was influenced by “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” (1972) and by “The Holy Mountain” (1973) quite a lot. But then every film, have their own backstories or have been conceived and produced over different periods, meaning that the references vary. For the film White Christmas 1948, for example, I was influenced by “Son of Saul” (2015) by László Nemes and “The Captain” (2017) by Robert Schwentke. So, it all varies I suppose, or depends on where life takes me.

 

Styles come and go, taste and aesthetics change and I guess that all my experiences, including the films I watch, the places I visit, the food I eat, inspire me in a way, affect my ideas and ways of making a film. As I grow older everything constantly alternates, perhaps quicker than it did before, and that’s what fascinates me. That in each of the works or projects I am engaged with, there is a part of me that lived in a particular moment in the past.

Discuss the importance of personal connection to your subject matter. How important is having a personal connection to the subjects or themes of your work? Can you give examples of this connection?

This is a tricky question, because the self always plays a role in the creative making process. From the way you hold your camera, which speaks of your gaze, and along with your vexed identity, to the ideas that come in mind and the ways you engage with them. So, if we speak of the personal connection in these terms, there’s always a personal connection, it’s inevitable. Yet, at the same time, if we see this connection as a direct personal attachment to the subject or theme I chose to film or to work with, I would say that it all depends on the film. Yet, none of my films are about me, in one way or another. If they were, I would lose motivation, and when I am not motivated enough, I can’t do the extra mile. There should always be something unknown and uncanny that I have to explore; and it’s only then that I find the energy to move forward, push through. Even if my agonies, or desires or failures or hopes turn into vessels and means into exploring something bigger and wider; something that escapes me.

 

The latest film I am working on is Kiatochella, which is in a way, a story of reverse integration. It’s a journey of transformation, of debunking guilt; and through experimentation it’s leading to a liberated expression in a context our protagonist has never been called to stand in before. That short film is based on my personal experience, but it’s not about me.

 

And as a film it aims to entertain but also to “trigger” empathy. It’s a dazzling, colorful story that longs to speak to the hearts of a wider audience.

 

White Christmas 1948, also has a personal archive as a starting point of reference. As a child, I used to spend the summer in Naxos, where my grandfather, a teacher and reservist officer of the Greek army used to tell me stories about his participation in WWII and the Greek Civil War. Those stories are part of my childhood memories. Many years later, and while I was reading this book “DEPO” by Yorgos Skampardonis, which consists of a series of short stories, I was intrigued by one of them based on the Greek Civil War. At that moment I decided that I want to turn this story into a film. My vision was to explore the multifaceted Greek identity further and to talk about the traumas and mistakes of the past. I wanted in a way to re-introduce myself with a story about the Greek Civil War, but tracing this very fragile and traumatic subject in reverse. And I was thinking I could do it, by first discussing a moment of reconciliation and then moving towards the consequences of such a war. Is that a personal narrative? No. But still it embodied in my autoethnography, in the ways I grew up, historically, socio-politically, emotionally. The main question arising through this film is: How are we going to evolve, if we don't go back, touch the traumas of the past, acknowledge the complexity of mistakes that have been made? How can we engage with this process, through enacting alternative lenses?

 

So, it’s up to you whether you want to name these connections personal or collective, related to the broad term of identity, or to a narrower idea of the self.

In what ways do you find film to be therapeutic, either for you as a filmmaker or for your audience?

I’m not sure whether art or film can actually be therapeutic. They can release emotions, both for the maker and the audience, they have the ability to cleanse what would otherwise remain morbid, or suppressed, they can bring historic archives to the surface and in that way operate as an excavation mechanism for muzzled collective agonies and traumas. But I can’t be sure about their healing qualities. I think that it requires personal, interpersonal or collective effort for something to be considered as therapeutic.

 

When it comes to me though, film is the only thing that up to today I have given everything I had. Nothing else allows me, or forces me in a way to give everything I have in me. I love every single aspect of the process, I love the high when I’m on set, and that all, might not be therapeutic but it’s happy and hopefully and vital for me to exist. As for the audience, film is a sort of experience, a priori. And in that sense, each of us, depending on the emotional state they’re in when encountering the movie, the attachment they have to the subjects of the film, or the unnoticed resonances they might trigger for them, they encounter the film accordingly. As I said, it might be cleansing, relieving, intimidating, amongst many others. And if these emotions can provide the ground for a therapeutic process, it is up to the audience, up to the agency each of us has.

Have you ever considered stopping creating? If so, what might lead you to that decision?

I have thought about it many times and I still do, up to this moment. The main reason is the fear of the unknown, the financial precarity, the ways these two affect confidence and safety and other very important aspects of the life of a human being. However, I do understand that choosing this path, especially when living in Greece, will always come with having to deal with all these unstable factors. I guess my main concern is how I’m going to keep pushing through when I’m older and I don’t have the same energy I do now; or what I’m going to do if things don’t work out well in the end, and I end up not finding a job. And when I find myself within these mind loops, that they are mostly unpleasant, I bring three things in mind:

 

1) The importance of the process. After watching Stutz (2022) by Johna Hi, Phil Stutz argues that you don’t get to the world of meaning through doing big things. You get through small things.

 

2) The question of Anupama Chopra to Luca Guadagnino, during the Mumbai Film Festival, was: What qualities must a director have? He replies: “To be incredibly presumptuous and absolutely realist. These two things are super important. Together. The one without the other could create either a sort of delusional director who thinks he is doing something that he is not really doing, or a blindly realist director: and the realists are themselves shooters, so they can be hired by Marvel. But a director should be both these things. Because when you make a movie you really have to deal with time,or with the actual difficulty of what you have to achieve during a day, an hour, a minute even, depending on circumstances and facts, such money, such as people. So, it’s all about practicality really, and never swift away from the goal which is to complete the shooting in the first place. And that needs a strategy of someone who has kind of military mindset. And yes, at the same time you need to be very presumptuous or visionary about yourself, even delusional somehow, to think that you might do a movie. And after, that someone will show up and will watch what you did. You have to be able to convince yourself, that an x number of people will engage to watch something that it was completely and only in your mind, at first place”. I’ll keep quoting now, or you can watch the full interview.

 

3) And last but not least, I want to stay relevant. And I think doing films has this super power. I see older director’s that haven’t really aged. They are still young. In a way I envy that and I would like to be that way in the future.

✦ ✦ ✦

As we reflect on the thoughtful insights shared by Antonios Vallindras, it becomes clear that the world of filmmaking is not just about storytelling; it's about a deeply personal journey of exploration and expression. The blend of personal experiences, societal reflections, and artistic freedom defines his unique style, offering audiences an array of emotions and ideas. This dedication to his craft, despite the challenges and uncertainties that come with it, showcases an incredible commitment and dedication to creating impactful art. Whether through the lens of a camera or the intricate process of developing a story, Vallindras continues to explore new territories and inspire us with his unique vision. Keep up to date with Antonios' work through his Artit portfolio.