LESVIA
Since the 1970s, lesbians from around the world have been drawn to the island of Lesvos, the birthplace of the ancient Greek poet Sappho. When they find paradise in a local village and carve out their own queer lesbian community, tensions simmer with the local residents. With both groups claiming ownership of lesbian identity, filmmaker Tzeli Hadjidimitriou—a native and lesbian herself—is caught in the middle and chronicles 40+ years of love, community, conflict, and what it means to feel accepted.
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Tzeli HadjidimitriouDirector
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Tzeli HadjidimitriouWriterSappho singing (short film), Mr.Dimitris Mrs. Dimitroula (short film)
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Rea ApostolidisProducerWhen Tomatoes met Wagner, Dolphin Man
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Yuri AverofProducerWhen Tomatoes met Wagner, Dolphin Man
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Tzeli HadjidimitriouProducerSappho singing (short film), Mr.Dimitris Mrs. Dimitroula (short film)
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Project Title (Original Language):ΛΕΣΒΙΑ
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Project Type:Documentary, Feature
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Runtime:1 hour 17 minutes
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Completion Date:May 31, 2023
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Production Budget:164,000 EUR
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Country of Origin:Greece
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Country of Filming:Greece
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Language:English, French, Italian, Modern Greek (1453-)
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Thessaloniki
Greece
March 14, 2022
Work in progress, Festival award and Onassis Cinema award
Distribution Information
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Jeffrey WinterDistributorCountry: WorldwideRights: TheatricalCountry: Worldwide
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Anemos DimiourgiasSales AgentCountry: WorldwideRights: All Rights
Tzeli Hadjidimitriou was born and raised on the island of Lesvos, Greece, and is an award-winning filmmaker, fine art photographer, and writer. Her photographs, which capture liminal atmospheres, places, and people, have been exhibited in solo and group shows in Australia, China, Italy, Turkey, and Greece and published. After attending a series of seminars by Michelangelo Antonioni on the art of cinematography, she pursued further studies in Cinematography in Rome.
Tzeli has been filming and photographing the lives of the inhabitants of Lesvos since 1990. In her work, she uses all her 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.
Recent films focus on gender, including "Sappho’s Granddaughters", where the older women of Eressos tell their moving stories; ‘Mr. Dimitris and Dimitroula’, a rare record of a gender-nonconforming person on Sykamia Lesvos, who tragically lost his/her life after being unjustly detained in a mental asylum; and ‘Sappho singing’, a joyful ode to Sappho, who revisits contemporary Lesvos. Her short films have been screened across the world and won several awards. She is an expert on Sappho's poetry and regularly works as a consultant for BBC television on programs about Sappho and Lesvos.
I was born and raised on the island of Lesvos, Greece, whose light, landscapes, people, and everyday life are my source of inspiration. I am moved by all those stories, things, and life forms that are on the brink of disappearing and being lost forever. This is how I began to make my previous photography books and documentaries, to capture the light and life of things, and to save them from irrevocable loss and death. In my work, 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.
In all my previous work, I was looking to render the spirit of the people of Lesvos. In this current documentary – my first feature-length film -- besides this driving concern, I also want to speak about my own in-between, liminal experience as a proud member of the lesbian community, and tell the story of how that lesbian community came to be.
This film is the result of twelve years of work. I’ve conducted thorough interviews with the lesbian community who come/live in Eressos and the local people. The interviews were structured as a discussion allowing people the space to be themselves. With this documentary I am trying to discover, together with the spectators, what happened in the last 40 years in Eressos where unexpected interactions have changed the course of history, and the building of community.
Eressos itself, this astonishing volcanic landscape, with its 3 km beach, its blue sea, and the unique light that inspired the poetess Sappho, is one of the main characters in the film. It exists in the film in all four seasons, and it intertwines with my own personal narration and history. In this sense, the film takes the form of a personal essay film that documents not only my personal journey but also that of the village, the history of lesbian strife, and the creation of safe spaces.
This is a personal film as much as it is a collective film. Aside from my own history, it points to the history of hundreds of lesbians who carved a space for themselves. It is a vital document.