Naked Hands: Α documentary about the great Greek conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos

“Naked Hands”: documenting a meeting

“Eight years ago, I decided to direct a documentary film about Dimitri Mitropoulos – one that would not be a “standard” biopic that interviewed people who knew him, or got “experts” to explain what a magnificent conductor he was. Mitropoulos’ highly particular and complex personality demanded a different approach. Tireless and time-consuming research brought rare, never-before-seen archival footage and sound recordings to light that could adequately illuminate the Greek maestro’s work and career– his public, “outward-facing” side. It was also, however, necessary to find a way to reveal his more personal, “unseen” side, so that audiences could understand how he thought and, moreover, how this great musician felt. Further research conducted at the Dimitri Mitropoulos Archive, kept at the Gennadius Library, led me to letters the Greek conductor wrote to his very close friend, Katy Katsoyanni, letters which the Overseers of the Gennadius Library kindly allowed me to study in the original and, in the end, include in the documentary. Beyond the wealth of information that these letters offered, they were also a kind of confession, capturing in high relief Mitropoulos’ passion for, and absolute devotion to his art. The vast majority were written on a typewriter in the English language and, it would seem, were dictated: “Today I sat down and decided to dictate this letter…” or “This is an unusual letter. Outside it is terribly cold and the weather is so bad that Miss Reed cannot come to get my dictation directly for your letters, so I do it by telephone.” Phrases like the ones above acted as directorial notes, and were a source of inspiration for the film’s fictional narrative sections. This element of dictation – a kind of theatrical act in itself – spawned the idea for the inclusion of an actor who would read the letters, either on camera or as a voice over, in order to drive the narrative forward. This actor could be none other than Lefteris Voyiatzis (another artist devoted absolutely to his art, and the only person who could make the maestro’s words ring true, and without losing their weight when placed alongside the “live” Mitropoulos appearing in the archival footage). Without ever “playing” Mitropoulos, Lefteris Voyiatzis studies / experiments with / performs extracts from the letters to create a mirror image of this great musician’s personality. At the end of the day, “Naked Hands” documents a meeting: that of Lefteris Voyiatzis – and by extension, of the audience – with Dimitri Mitropoulos.”

— Giorgos Skevas