NIKH (or the impossible hope of trying)

On the eve of the biggest show of her career, a young pop singer struggles with her sense of control over her art and her mind. But fate has other plans for her.

  • Savvas Stavrou
    Director
    Buffer Zone, Fistikia Aiginis, Song to the Siren
  • Savvas Stavrou
    Writer
    Buffer Zone, Fistikia Aiginis, Song to the Siren
  • Kiriaki Virou
    Producer
    Nothing Holier Than a Dolphin, 7Hz, Cheap Smokes
  • Flomaria Papadaki
    Key Cast
    "Niki"
    Animal, Enchanted Hearts, Gym
  • Elena Topalidou
    Key Cast
    "Anna"
    Arcadia, Magnetic Fields, Bella
  • Konstantinos Koukoulios
    Director of Photography
    Arcadia, Broadway, Kyuka: Before Summer's End
  • Vassilia Rozana
    Costume Design
    Before Midnight, Alps, Attenberg, Chevalier
  • Melentini
    Music
    .dog, Madonna f64.0, Afterlov
  • Hristos Giannakopoulos
    Editor
    Fantasmata tis Epanastasis, Dark Sand, Free Subject
  • Persefoni Miliou
    Sound Designer
    Behind the Haystacks, Holy Emy, Park
  • Sissi Petropoulou
    Make-Up & Hair Designer
    Dogtooth, Kala azar, Isyhia 6-9
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Comedy, Musical
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 22, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Greece
  • Country of Filming:
    Greece
  • Language:
    Modern Greek (1453-)
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Savvas Stavrou

Savvas Stavrou is a Cypriot writer/director and alumni of the Sundance Lab, Berlinale Talents, and BFI Network @ LFF, amongst others, with several short films being screened internationally at festivals. His latest work BUFFER ZONE, a musical about the unlikely connection between two soldiers across enemy lines, was funded by the BFI and premiered at Clermont-Ferrand and BFI Flare Festival in 2023, winning awards for Best Actor, Best Director and Best Film as various festivals. As a music video director, his work was pinned by Promo News amidst the likes of Massive Attack and Florence + the Machine, and his videos for The Irrepressibles being picked and presented by NOWNESS.

In the commercials world, Savvas has produced work for giants such as Apple, Samsung, Nike and KFC - as well as produced music videos for The Rolling Stones, Dua Lipa, Muse, Sam Smith and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

He is currently doing festival rounds with his latest short THE IMPOSSIBLE HOPE OF TRYING and in pre-production on WHEN THE MUSIC STOPPED, a short funded by the Greek Film Centre and ERT. He is also developing a slate of three features including LOVESONG TO LAVENDER MENACE (funded by Screen Scotland) and THE ONES LEFT BEHIND, one of 8 projects participating at the Sundance Mediterranean Screenwriters Lab in 2018.

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Director Statement

ΝΙΚΗ (or the impossible hope of trying) is a bold, vulnerable film about the lengths we go to for our art, the value we attach to success, the pressure of perfection, and what happens when powers outside our control take it away in an instant. It is an intimate portrait about the universality of how we cope with stress in our most desperate moments and the ultimate strive for recognition and validation.

This film flowed out of me in the wake of the pandemic, almost as a means of processing all the anxiety, frustration and fear that artists across the world experienced during a very uncertain time. It’s also quite a personal film for me, exposing the very recesses of my own imposter syndrome and pressures we place on ourselves to achieve what some may call ‘success’ that were brought to surface by the pandemic.

Niki is more of an anti-hero here, insufferable in her attempts to control everything, weighed down by a lifetime of insecurities. She is a neurotic perfectionist and her desperation to be recognised as an artist overshadows her incredible talent. Her desire to be finally ‘seen’. We follow her as the threads that held her together slowly come apart and she crumbles under the expectation for her success. Eventually we see her as a broken human trying to define her happiness.

This film is for those who have fought, laughed, cried and bled for something they believed in - lost and regained sanity, hope and compassion for their selves - for those who needed to search deep within for an answer of why they do what they do in this world - for those who won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. And with the constant risks of failure, the impossible hope of at least trying.