“On Xerxes’ Throne” by Evi Kalogiropoulou received the Canal+ Award for Short Film in Critic’s Week at the 75th Cannes Film Festival
The film, commissioned and produced by Onassis Culture – premiered as part of Critic’s Week at the 75th Cannes Film Festival (May 18-26, 2022), the parallel competition section of the European cinema institution that features works by filmmakers from around the world. The popular French television network gave the prestigious award to “On Xerxes’ Throne” citing the film’s approach to an ancient Greek story with highly inventive parables situated in an alien landscape.
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In the dystopian workplace that is the Perama shipyards, a longstanding ban on physical contact has turned human interactions into otherworldly simulations of a repressed sensuality that goes beyond stereotypical heteronormative desires. Hinting at the existence of an omnipresent but invisible monitoring mechanism, the film follows the story of Yorgos – the worker there the longest, and manager of the yard – to profile human relationships and exchanges as shaped by an Orewellian everyday existence in which the visual subordinates the emotional.
Once a month, Yorgos leaves Perama, crossing over to the island of Salamis that lies opposite. Both he and the yard’s young workers gaze at the mountain that rises behind Perama, then across the strait, then back again, unsure of what to expect, or what to do.
On Xerxes’ Throne. One of the peaks of Mount Egaleo in the Municipality of Perama – known in antiquity as Amfiali – is thought to be the site where Xerxes sat as he watched the destruction of the Persian fleet in the Battle of Salamis, in 480 BCE. As if in that same position, Kalogiropoulou observes her leads from a distance, placing them on the “throne” determined by each person’s own little world – be it an automated piece of heavy machinery or a section of metal scaffolding – with everyone trapped within, and observers of a dystopian universe and grim ritual that suppresses human desire.
With this film, Kalogiropoulou has chosen to talk about the human body, beauty, the futility of work, and the conditions imposed by paranoid surveillance, but also about blood and estrangement, about gender, about sexual desire and its limits.
The role played by Yorgos Mazonakis is both enigmatic and autobiographical. Enigmatic in terms of the questions: Is he human, or a machine? Where does he come from, and why is he finally able to smash such a deeply-rooted mandate of suppression? What is the nature of the eroticism he exudes? The role is autobiographical as the film marks the Greek artist’s return to Perama, and to the place where his father once worked.
Kalogiropoulou’s first version of the film – titled “I Belong to Me” – was commissioned for the “You and AI: Through the Algorithmic Lens” exhibition, presented by Onassis Stegi at Pedion tou Areos park in Athens (06.24–07.25.2021), exploring the themes of algorithms and artificial intelligence, creativity and ethics, and curated by Afroditi Panagiotakou, Director of Culture at the Onassis Foundation. The film was shot at Hellenic Shipyards S.A. in Perama in June 2021.
“On Xerxes’ Throne” will be shown on the prestigious French television network Canal+, which presents works by notable filmmakers from around the world.
The Onassis Foundation looks to the future of cinema and becomes an active part of new artistic creations. Through film production, it invests over time in new talents and strong stories. The Onassis Foundation has co-produced and/or supported two more films screened at Cannes: Panos Koutras’ new film, “Dodo” (co-produced), which was selected at Cannes Premiére, and “The Dam” by Ali Cherri (supported), which premieres at Directors Fortnight.
On Xerxes’ Throne by Evi Kalogiropoulou
Starring: Yorgos Mazonakis, Angela Brouskou, Myrto Kontoni, Ksenia Dania, Lorenzo Sarzan, Kevin Zans Ansong, Jordan Genidogan, Vassilis Koutsogiannis
Director: Evi Kalogiropoulou
Screenwriter: Giorgos Teltzidis
Curatorial Direction: Afroditi Panagiotakou
Producer: Amanda Livanou
Director of Photography: Evan Maragkoudakis
Editor: Giorgos Zafeiris
Music: Kid Moxie
Production Design: Evelina Darzenta, Anna Zotou
Sound: Dimitris Demirakos, Leandros Ntounis
Costume Design: Georgia Boura
Make-up Design: Maria Vezyraki
Line Production: Neda Film
An Onassis Culture production
