Direction:

Penny Panayotopoulou

Screenplay:

Penny Panayotopoulou

Cinematography:

Dimitris Katsaitis

Editing:

Petar Markovic, Angelos Angelopoulos

Sound:

Nikos Papadimitriou

Sets:

Aurelien Leriche

Costumes:

Lily Kentaka

Music:

Stavros Sofianopoulos

Cast:

Giorgos Karayannis, Stelios Mainas, Ioanna, Christos Stergioglou, Christos Bougiotas, Despo Diamantidou

Producer:

Costas Lambropoulos-CL Productions, Thanos Karathanos-Twenty Twenty Vision,George Louizos-Max Productions

Production:

Greek Film Centre, Hellenic Broadcasting Corp. ERT S.A., Filmboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH

35mm Colour 108'
Greece 2002
Locarno Film festival 2002: Leopard for Best Actor

Elias, a ten year-old boy who lives in Athens in the late '60s, suddenly loses his father. The members of the family try, each in his own particular way, to deal with the unexpected event... except for the little boy. He cannot shoulder the burden of this separation. He cannot grasp what has happened. He refuses to accept that his father has really died and continues to behave as though he is waiting for him to return from one of his usual business trips. He starts acting strangely with the aim of keeping his father alive inside him. He lies, sends letters to his grandmother as though they are from his father. He continues to play their favorite games with him, acting out both roles of the game. And worst of all he is absolutely sure that his father will return as he had promised so that they can both watch the Americans landing on the moon for the first time on television. But his father cannot keep his promise, which was to be his last. The moon landing takes place. Man takes his leave of his planet, the earth. And so does the little boy who takes his final leave of his father for the first time. Only then does Elias realize that he has been left completely alone. At first he gets angry but in the end he understands. His father could not have done differently. He won't wait for him any more. He grows up abruptly. A new era begins for man but also for young Elias.

Born in Athens, she studied law at the University of Athens and film directing at the Stavrakos Film School. From 1982 to 1985 she lived in London where she studied photography and film directing at the Polytechnic of Central London (University of Westminster). Since 1986 she has been working free lance for Hellenic Television producing and directing series with a social and psychoanalytical content as well as directing cultural programs.

FILMOGRAPHY

2002 HARD GOODBYES: MY FATHER, 35mm, color, 108 minutes
(first feature film)
Leopard for Best Actor, Locarno Film Festival
1996 LIKE RAIN LIKE HAIL, 16mm, color, 60 minutes
1988 ELDORADO, 16mm, color, 29.5 minutes
Best Short Fiction Film Award, 29th Thessaloniki Film Festival
First Prize from the Greek Ministry of Culture
Honorary Mention from the French National Centre of Cinematography
Participated in the short film festival of Clermont-Ferrand,
the Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier and the Festival
des Femmes at Creteil
1984 AND IF YOU HEAR FROM MY LOUISE, 16mm, color, 19 minutes
1983 THE TRIAL, 16mm, 20 minutes
1981 ZIG-ZAG, 16mm, 4 minutes.