Avanos

Le cinéaste grecque Panagiotis Charamis a participé au programme LIM | Less is More en 2018 pour le développement de son long-métrage « Avanos » (Άβανος), une adaptation de son court-métrage.

Synopsis

AVANOS tells the story of Tasos, a detainee on a short prison-release returning to his hometown near the borders between Greece and Turkey after 17 years absence, to attend his mother’s memorial service. There he finds out that his ex-girlfriend’s (Kiki) son could well be his own child. During his search for the truth, Tasos realizes that his Uncle Pater, the local smuggler and his ex-partner in crime, has gone crazy and has turned the village into living hell, dragging Kiki’s son nikos in with him. As events start to escalate, Tasos discovers that nikos might actually be Pater’s son. In a final attempt to attain salvation, he decides to stay and take on one“last” job to help Kiki escape from the village and save nikos from a dark future. On the night of the “job” things go wrong and Tasos watches as nikos is killed. Tasos has no choice. Once again, Tasos pulls the trigger; on the man he went to prison for, his father figure and uncle, Pater himself.

Intentions

AVANOS tells the story of modern Greece in a time of austerity and desperation for its people. Through the “magical” and rugged landscapes of Eastern Thrace and the austere Greek faces, I wish to highlight the wild beauty of these places and the characters of the people of a country in constant search of inner salvation through a fundamental love story.

AVANOS tells the story of Tasos a character struggling like so many in my country today. Its narrative is familiar not only to Greeks but also to others from challenging backgrounds either on a personal or a national level. 

AVANOS depicts the harsh contrast between peace and chaos, love and hate, faith and blasphemy. In AVANOS violence is centre stage, constantly reminding the viewer of its ugliness yet also showing its redeeming qualities. It’s a rough cinematic experience focussing on the poetics of the wild.