Mania Papadimitriou

The straw hats

Love, the search for love, the desire for love... Three summers in the bright light of Attica, three sisters in their prime, Maria, Infanta, Katerina. Maria, the eldest, sensual, close to the mysteries of nature, Infanta, fiery but restrained in the face of love, Katerina, thirsty for independence, who chooses the dream. For her, the myth becomes reality, like the mysterious faces of the Polish grandmother and Captain Andreas. Katerina narrates these three summers with imagination, humor and immense tenderness, with a youthful grace that already has a touch of nostalgia.

Ulysses' Gaze

An exiled filmmaker finally returns to his home country where former mysteries and afflictions of his early life come back to haunt him once more.

Fonissa

It is the early 20th century on a dystopian Greek island. Hadoula, a widow who lost her husband, loannis Fragkos, at a young age, is a woman who has learned how to survive in a male-dominated and extremely patriarchal society. Hadoula carries a difficult burden within her. Like a baton passed on to her from her mother, and the generations before her, she is meant to accept the belittling and degradation of women. Hadoula reacts. Her personal, internal revolution soon comes forth. The victims of her outburst are the little girls of the island, whom she sets free from the social and economic burden that their existence entails by taking their lives. Her actions will bring her face to face with the law. She leaves her home and escapes to her refuge, nature. But as much as her faith and morals dictate that she did the right thing, her trans-generational trauma follows her everywhere. And the end comes as redemption.

From the Snow

This highly acclaimed drama from Greek writer/director Sotiris Goritsas, inspired by the Sotiris Dimitriou short story, represented Greece as an official selection for the 1994 Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight. It concerns two young Greek men seeking refuge in Albania. Thomas (Vassilis Eleftheriadis) and Achilleas (Ierassimos Skiadaeressis) make an illegal late-night run at the Greek border, joined by young Nikos (Antonis Manolas), a child whose mother had been killed by Albanian guards. Returning to Athens, they find that the land they had missed and dreamed of so often has changed, refusing to accept the returning refugees or even see them as Greek -- the locals refer to the trio as "Albanians" throughout the film. Demoralized and disillusioned, Thomas is accidentally killed while working at a building site to make ends meet, and Achilleas and Nikos decide to return to their Albanian village rather than stay in an Athens, which clearly has no place for them anymore.

Think it Over

All indications were that Maraki was made for great things, for honor and distinctions. And yet contrary to all expectations our heroine cops out. She refuses to take the university entrance exams is left behind in the country town selling fruit tarts. No one can figure out how come that whiz kid got left behind. Neither can anyone understand why Maraki isn't mad at fate for having wronged her so flagrantly. How does she manage to be so creative and optimistic, ready to do battle with the everyday injustices of life wherever the may appear? She appears to understand something that all the others ignore.

The Athenians

This is a series of intersecting stories. A petty crook and former lover of a lazy ingénue steals the box-office receipts from the Odeon of Herodus Atticus, on the day an important football game is also taking place. There is also the story of the half-mad mother of the ingénue who refuses to put shoes on because she believes that shoes lead people astray. An eccentric grave-digger produces a two-seater coffin for couple-victims of car accidents. The film also tells the story of one of the Odeon's cleaning women and of a watermelon that goes all around the city, pursued by a tired theater technician and his sister, who is a tour guide. The impresario conducts an inquiry after the theft, but the thief and his two associates, the ingénue and the technician, use what was stolen to set up a small theatre. Small everyday stories and comic incidents combine to create a portrait of modern-day Athens.

The Woman Is... A Tough Person

Johnny Maniatis (Anthony Kafetzopoulos) is a successful advertiser and ... womanizer. Georgia (Fay Kokkinopoulou), currently the woman of his life, wants urgently to make a child. His mother, Aspasia (Jenny Roussea) is absent. His faithful secretary, Herse (Yota Festa) is tired of the irresponsible behavior, but tries to help him. His daughter Artemis (Eleni Apostolopoulos) is arrested aain for stealing the eve of her trial, while the former wife Martha (Mania Papadimitriou) is throwing him all the blame ...

The Years of the Big Heat

One woman's lonely search for the truth about her mother's murder.

Gold Dust

Athens, today. Three siblings face the prospect of selling their family home. The potential buyers will tear it down and erect a modern building in its place.

Η Ληστεία