Private Project

Mr. Dimitris and Mrs. Dimitroula

“A rose is a rose no matter how you call it”

Dimitris lives her life in Skala Skamnias, the conservative Greek fishing village where she was born. She nursed her dying parents and now lives alone, able, at last to enjoy her femininity by dancing in the street to old pop records, watched by her cat.
Misunderstood by family but celebrated by journalists covering the refugee crisis, her resilience is captured by the camera. She recalls time spent away from Lesvos and conscription into the Greek army. Gently observed and interviewed by a Lesbian film maker similarly aware of what it means to grow up different in a tiny traditional community, their shared humanity and mutual respect shine through this touching biographical film.
A few words on Dimitris
When, in 2015, thousands of refugees started arriving on the island of Lesvos on boats, foreign reporters and volunteers could not help but notice Dimitris, dressed up to the nines, strolling in the square, among worn-out faces, crying children and women wrapped in burkas. It was then that for the first time, some wanted to listen to her story.
When the tension diminished and Skala Sikaminias was out of the limelight, Dimitris was left alone once again amongst the villagers she had grown up with.
One day, in 2016, I came across Dimitris dancing in the street outside her house, with just the family cat, Dimitroula, as her audience. I got to know them both and visited with my camera on several occasions. This is Dimitris' story as she told it to me.

  • Tzeli Hadjidimitriou
    Director
    In search of Orpheus, best Greek documentary, AegeanDocs 2019, 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
  • Tzeli Hadjidimitriou
    Writer
  • 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
    Producer
  • Yorgos Savoglou
    Editing
    Alykes, Stavroula
  • Panagiotis Gakis
    Editing
  • Stefanos Vlahoulis
    Sound mix
  • Tzeli Hadjidimitriou
    cinematographer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Ο Δημητράκης κι η Δημητρούλα
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    27 minutes 37 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 22, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Greece
  • Country of Filming:
    Greece
  • Language:
    Modern Greek (1453-)
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Outview LGBTQI Film Festival
    Athens
    Greece
    April 13, 2019
    World
    Official Selection
  • Women's festival
    Eressos, Lesvos
    Greece
    September 18, 2019
  • Aegeandocs International film festival
    Mytilene, Lesvos
    Greece
    October 5, 2019
  • Florence Queer film festival
    Florence
    Italy
    October 17, 2019
    European premiere
  • Roma Indipended Film Festival
    Rome
    Italy
    November 19, 2019
  • Divine Queer film festival
    Torino
    Italy
    September 6, 2020
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.