Page 32 - GREC14N PVK_04

In Conversation | Film director

Vasilis Kekatos
The awarded
storyteller

The recently awarded with the
Palme d’Or in the Cannes Film
Festival Kefalonian director
talks to Grec14n. O προσφάτως
βραβευµένος µε Χρυσό Φοίνικα
στο Φεστιβάλ των Καννών,
Κεφαλονίτης σκηνοθέτης µιλάει
στο GREC14N.
by Dimitris Golegos

When he is not working on a
new project, Vasilis Kekatos
has the pleasure to watch his
films screened on the most
prestigious international film
festivals celebrating silver screen.
After the remarkable success
of his short film “The Silence
of the Dying Fish”, which was
presented in competition in
Sundance and Locarno, and
received awards at the Drama
International Short Film Festival As a matter of fact, I have only the way, I saw solitary gas stations
and the Athens International Film decided that I didn’t want to get standing in the middle of nowhere,
Festival respectively, the director from involved with anything else. When I in empty landscapes: that picture
Kefalonia seduced also the French dropped out of Law School, I knew generated the idea of the story inside
Riviera. that only something relative to art me. Nothing poetic ever happens in
He recently came back triumphant would make me really happy. I could, such places. Therefore, I thought that
from the 72th Cannes Film Festival, perhaps, have dealt with literature, if I place in this environment two
where his new short film “The which remains my greatest love. Since people who fall in love unexpectedly,
Distance Between Us and the Sky”, I cherish storytelling, I thought that the next time I visit the place; it
beside the award Queer Palm which cinema would be the ideal means for wouldn’t look so melancholic.
is awarded to the LGBQT+ movies of me to fulfil my purpose – yet, as a
the competition won the Palm D’Or – “newborn” art, cinema constitutes a Which location on Kefalonia Island
Short Film, thus writing history as the vast uncharted route. would you choose to film a movie of
first Greek who is awarded the specific yours?
prize. What inspired you to create “The When it comes to Kefalonia, I
Distance between us and the Sky”? am keen to discover its hidden
How did you decide to get involved Travelling by car in the United States, landscapes. That’s what I tried to do
with cinema? I passed through several states. Along with my previous film “The Silence

32 GREC14N 2019