Diorthosi

Synopsis:
A man is released from prison. With nowhere to go, he wanders like a modern Ulysses through a contemporary Athens peopled by migrants, the homeless, and other marginalized members of society. Along the way, he meets a gleiwoman and a little girl. Are the three of them members of a disrupted family or just persecutors and victims of a violent and conflict-driven society that prevents them from living together?

Director’s statement: "I was born and grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in central Athens. Today it’s an area with low rents and an even lower quality of life, where many people of different cultures and identities try to live together. Every time I walk the streets of my childhood to the church square and the souvlaki restaurant with the tables outside where people gather, I’m struck by this rich image of apparent co-habitation of different cultures and classes, and at the same time of this atmosphere of hidden national tensions. It’s a neighborhood in transition seeking a new identity. I wanted to place the characters of my film in this city, where hidden national violence grows and where anything essential remains hidden like a secret."

Nominations:
Golden Alexander, 2007 Thessaloniki Film Festival

Awards:
Best Actor (Yorgos Symeonidis), Titra Film Award, 2008 Geneva Cinéma Tout Ecran
Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Yorgos Symeonidis), 2007 Thessaloniki Film Festival

(click to enlarge)