Private Project

In search of Orpheus

The film In search of Orpheus follows, in a poetic way, the traces of the mythical musician in Lesvos, Greece, where, as legend has it, his head and his lyre were washed up on the shores of the island.
As we wander around the area that is linked with the legend, we come across ordinary people and ask them what they know about this subject. Their answers are staggering, as each one of them has modified the story according to their own imagination and experiences. In other words, they each make up one more tale to the many tales about Orpheus.
Among these people, we encounter the famous Chinese lyric poetess Lanlan. For her, this place is always the cradle of ancient music and poetry. Her presence offer the film an unexpected yet very important dimension.

As the film was shot on coasts where refugees have been arriving for years, even before 2015, in the same places where – centuries before – the sea and the myth washed up Orpheus, the locals mention it very often.
In search of Orpheus, is part of a series shot in Lesvos, during the financial and migrant crisis under the title Silent Path. The series is filmed with a poetic approach, without seeking the classic documentation. It deliberately follows the natural course of the meetings with the characters, without aiming at a pre-determined outcome, leaving space for emotions and the unexpected. The aim of the series is to give a voice to everyday people who live their lives quietly, but know how to share, laugh, create, love, endure and keep on going with dignity, preserving a way of living in harmony with their environment. This is the "intangible cultural heritage" of Greece of Europe, the culture of everyday life of ordinary people with knowledge, practices and traditions, that are often deeply rooted in time, and to this day still define our collective memory and identity.

  • Tzeli Hadjidimitriou
    Director
    In search of Orpheus, best Greek documentary, AegeanDocs 2019 Filmography Sappho’s Granddaughters (Grannies) 2017 Salt and Bread 2017 (Sound award, Docfest 2018) In search of Orpheus 2018 (Best Greek documentary award AegeanDocs 2019) Mr. Dimitris and Mrs. Dimitroula 2019 A land of silence 2019 Sappho singing 2020
  • Massive Productions
    Producer
    Apagorevmena, In Company with Kalliyanni, I koilia tis melissas, O gios tou fylaka , Nikaria mou, Ithopoioi: Imerologio spoudis,I Spend Time with Making: Lucas Samaras, Crossed Lives, METAXA: Akougontas to hrono
  • Anemos Dimiourgias Non Profit association
    Producer
  • Tzeli Hadjidimitriou
    Producer
  • Giorgos Kotanidis
    Narration
    Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Living Dangerously, Kamia sympatheia gia ton Diavolo
  • Yorgos Savoglou
    Editing
    Alykes, Stavroula
  • Nikos Palamaris
    Sound Mix
    To koritsi
  • Vangelis Fampas
    Executive Producer
    Apagorevmena, In Company with Kalliyanni, I koilia tis melissas, O gios tou fylaka , Nikaria mou, Ithopoioi: Imerologio spoudis,I Spend Time with Making: Lucas Samaras, Crossed Lives, METAXA: Akougontas to hrono
  • Tzeli Hadjidimitriou
    Writer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Αναζητώντας τον Ορφέα
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    48 minutes 31 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 14, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Greece
  • Country of Filming:
    Greece
  • Language:
    Chinese, Modern Greek (1453-)
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Greek festival of Sydney
    Sydney
    Australia
    March 9, 2018
    World premiere
    Official selection
  • Teriade museum/library
    Mytilene
    Greece
    September 19, 2018
  • Natural history museum of the petrofied forest of Lesvos
    Sigri
    Greece
    August 24, 2018
  • Women's festival
    Eressos
    Greece
    September 22, 2018
  • London Greek film festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    European premiere
    Official selection
  • Ierapetra International Documentary Festival
    Ierapetra
    Greece
    August 9, 2019
  • Aegeandocs International film festival
    Mytilene, Lesvos
    Greece
    October 3, 2019
    Best Greek documentary
Distribution Information
  • Massive Productions
    Country: Greece
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Tzeli Hadjidimitriou

Tzeli Hadjidimitriou is a researcher of authenticity, an independent filmmaker, fine art photographer and travel writer, from Lesbos, Greece. In 1985, on a scholarship, she attended a series of seminars by Michelangelo Antonioni on the art of cinematography and she decided to pursue further studies in the field of Direction of Photography for the Cinema, in Rome. In Greece, she attended seminars and got a certificate in video-montage.

She worked as a stage photographer, cameraman assistant, in Greek tv series, collaborating with almost all tv channels and major Greek producers and studios. She also worked with many Greek film directors and BBC.

Filmography
Sappho’s Granddaughters (Grannies) 2017
Salt and Bread 2017 (Sound award, Docfest 2018)
In search of Orpheus 2018 / new edit 2019 (Best Greek documentary award AegeanDocs 2019)
Mr. Dimitris and Mrs. Dimitroula 2019
A land of silence 2019
Sappho singing 2020

She holds a degree in Economics from the University of Macedonia and a superior diploma as an official translator of the Italian Language.

She is the author of six photography books, including the award-winning “39 Coffee houses and a barber’s shop”, “In Communion with Stone” “Time Fading Into Clouds”, “Sacred Water” and “Modern architecture in Pre-war Athens”, with work shown in museums and galleries in Greece and abroad (Venice, Paris, Istanbul, Beijing, Sydney, Athens). She is also the author of guidebooks to the Greek islands of Kythera and Lesbos and has published many articles about her global travels in the Greek Press.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I am a photographer, a writer, and a filmmaker, but I am also a researcher of authenticity. I grew up on the Greek island of Lesvos, where ever since I was a young girl I was fascinated by the quality of the light there. But I Ieft, and became a world traveler. I am an artist, moving from the one to the other, following my inside need for expression. In my documentaries, I use all my experiences and capacities, aiming to give space and voice to ordinary people, who are not famous or considered extraordinary in any way, but who live their lives in simplicity, outside the daily headlines.