The Room
In 1974, Turkish military forces invade the Mediterranean Island of Cyprus, culminating in thousands of deaths and the annexation of the country. Today it is estimated that less than half of the 2,000 missing Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots have been identified. Meanwhile, negotiations for reunification of the divided island repeatedly end in failure.
However one woman has devoted her life to give voice to the missing, turning her house into a museum dedicated to their stories. Her Room has become a testament to the longing of mothers to reunite with their children.
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Mark NorfolkDirectorShadow Gene, Time
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Eirini NikopoulouDirector
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Eirini NikopoulouProducer
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Mark NorfolkWriterShadow gene, Time
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Eirini NikopoulouWriter
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Project Type:Experimental, Short
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Runtime:5 minutes 9 seconds
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Completion Date:September 7, 2017
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Production Budget:0 USD
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Country of Origin:United Kingdom
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Country of Filming:Cyprus
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Language:Modern Greek (1453-)
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Shooting Format:I-phone
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Film Color:Black & White and Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Mark studied Independent Film Production and Avant-garde Film Studies. He has worked in television production and as a sports journalist and writes articles on film and culture. His films include award winning Shadow Gene, Ham & The Piper and Crossing Bridges.
I originally saw the shot material in 2012 while visiting the Peloponnesian International Film Festival who were screening my film Ham & The Piper. I was interested in the theme and asked for the mov file to be sent to me. However at the time I was knee deep in the post production of Shadow Gene which was quite a difficult task due to the nature of the film's concept. As the years went by I finally had a window in which to access the material. But when I opened the file I discovered that it had become corrupted with glitches in the audio. The effect had a certain beauty in its uniformity and I was captivated. I decided to cut the film in an experimental way, disguising the central character- who represents the many 'grieving' people- and utilising the corrupted audio track as a backdrop to multiple overlaid images that say something of the journey of the missing people. In a strange way I find that the audio paints its own fragmentary image.