Private Project

Waiting for the Barbarians

In a city—evoking, without specificity, a city of the Roman Empire—the poem depicts a state of waiting: the arrival of the “Barbarians” has been announced, the emperor himself seems ready to submit to their authority, and every hypothesis about the future is possible. The city holds its breath in anticipation… But who, exactly, are these “Barbarians”? And what if they do not come?

  • Georges Sifianos
    Director
  • Constantin Cavafy
    Writer
  • Georges Sifianos
    Writer
    French Translation
  • Galina and Laurent Guine
    Producer
    IMAKA Films
  • Georges Sifianos
    Key Cast
    Voice
  • Dimitri Mastrogioglou
    Music
  • Andrea Martignoni
    Sound Design
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Waiting for the Barbarians / En attendant les barbares / Περιμένοντας τους Βαρβάρους
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 45 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2026
  • Country of Origin:
    Greece
  • Country of Filming:
    France, Greece
  • Language:
    French, Greek (Modern)
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable

  • France
Director Biography - Georges Sifianos

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Georges Sifianos, born in Greece, is a filmmaker, visual artist, and Doctor of Philosophy. In 1995, he founded the Department of Animation Studies at the École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD) in Paris, where he taught for more than twenty years, contributing to the education of several generations of filmmakers. Many of his former students are now internationally recognized figures in animation.
During the same period, he gave courses and lectures at universities and academic institutions across Europe, India, Korea, Japan, and China.
He contributed to the founding and/or administration of major professional and institutional organizations, including CARTOON, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and NEF Animation. He has also served on numerous international festival juries.
His research interests focus on the aesthetics of animated film, in relation to perception and mental imagery, as well as ecology and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.
From 2008 to 2018, he concentrated his research on the analysis of movement as observed on the Parthenon frieze. His major discovery lies in demonstrating that the principle of animation was employed with remarkable mastery in this emblematic relief of Antiquity, in order to formalize the philosophical conception of the period concerning dialectics, social organization, democracy, and the musical relationships structuring the cosmos. This original study, The Symphony of the Parthenon Frieze, constitutes his principal research work.
He is the author of The Aesthetics of Animated Film, which received the McLaren–Lambart Award from the Society for Animation Studies in 2014 (Best Academic Book), as well as the Hemingway Grant in 2015. He has also contributed to numerous collective volumes, exhibition catalogues, and specialized journals.
In 2025, he received the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Animation Studies at Animafest Zagreb, as well as the Great Greek Masters distinction at AnimaSyros.
His films have been awarded multiple times at international festivals. His most recent film, The Blind Writer, has received approximately twenty international awards, including Best Animation, Award of Excellence, Best International Short Film, Experimental Prize, People’s Choice Award, the Min Tanaka Award, and the Giulio Giannini Award.
Filmography:
SMILE (1974), animated short film, 2 min
ODEUR DE VILLE (Scent of city) (1994), animated short film, 8 min 30 s
TUTU (2001), animated short film, co-directed with Pascal Dalet, 26 min
C’EST MÔA (2007), animated short film, 12 min
THE BLIND WRITER (2021), animated short film, 9 min 50 s
WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS (2026), animated short film, 11 min 45 s
as well as the feature-length documentary co-directed with Stathis Katsaros:
PETROCHEMICALS: THE CATHEDRALS OF THE DESERT (1981), 80 min
__________
254 words, 1476/1724 signs
Georges Sifianos, born in Greece, is a filmmaker, visual artist, and Doctor of Philosophy. In 1995, he founded the Department of Animation Studies at the École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD) in Paris, where he taught for over twenty years, educating several generations of filmmakers now active on the international animation scene. He has also lectured at universities and academic institutions across Europe, India, Korea, Japan, and China.
He contributed to the founding and/or administration of major professional organizations, including CARTOON, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and NEF Animation, and has served on numerous international festival juries.
His research focuses on the aesthetics of animated film in relation to perception, mental imagery, ecology, and emerging technologies. From 2008 to 2018, he conducted in-depth research on movement in the Parthenon frieze, resulting in an original and unpublished study, The Symphony of the Parthenon Frieze, which constitutes his major research work.
He is the author of The Aesthetics of Animated Film, awarded the McLaren–Lambart Award by the Society for Animation Studies (2014) and the Hemingway Grant (2015).
His filmography includes animated short films Smile (1974), Odeur de ville (1994), Tutu (2001), C’est môa (2007), The Blind Writer (2021), and Waiting for the Barbarians (2026), as well as the feature-length documentary Petrochemicals: The Cathedrals of the Desert (1981). The Blind Writer, his most recent film, has received around twenty international awards.
In 2025, he received the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Animation Studies at Animafest Zagreb and the Great Greek Masters distinction at AnimaSyros.
________
139 words, 793/930 signs
Georges Sifianos, born in Greece, is a filmmaker, visual artist, and Doctor of Philosophy. In 1995, he founded the Department of Animation Studies at ENSAD (Paris), where he taught for over twenty years, and has lectured internationally. He contributed to the founding of CARTOON, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and NEF Animation, and has served on international juries. His research on animation aesthetics led to an original, unpublished study, The Symphony of the Parthenon Frieze. He is the author of The Aesthetics of Animated Film (McLaren–Lambart Award 2014; Hemingway Grant 2015). His films include Smile, Odeur de ville, Tutu, C’est môa, The Blind Writer (around twenty international awards), Waiting for the Barbarians and the feature-length documentary Petrochemicals: The Cathedrals of the Desert. In 2025, he received the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Animation Studies at Animafest Zagreb.
_______
46 words, 307/352 signs
Georges Sifianos, filmmaker, visual artist, and philosopher, founded ENSAD’s Animation Department in 1995. He authored Esthétique du cinéma d’animation (McLaren-Lambart Prize, Hemingway Grant) and directed acclaimed films, including The Blind Writer. In 2025, he received the Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Animation Studies at Animafest Zagreb.

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Director Statement

294 words
The word “barbarian” is inherently ambiguous. Originally, it referred to the foreigner, the one whose language could not be understood and was reduced to indistinct sounds — “bar, bar, bar…”. Over time, the term acquired a pejorative meaning, coming to signify brutality and lack of culture.
Written in the early twentieth century, Constantin Cavafy’s poem Waiting for the Barbarians preserves this ambiguity. The barbarian is both threat and promise, embodying an alterity that remains misunderstood, at once fascinating and unsettling.
The film draws on this tension while refusing any fixed interpretation. Guided by Cavafy’s poem, it juxtaposes contemporary manifestations of what may be called barbarism: the erosion of bureaucratized parliamentarism, ecological collapse, violence transformed into physical or digital spectacle, state violence, rigid forms of rational thought, and the rhetoric of appearances. Amid this collective noise emerge the flows of migrants, leading to mass drownings. The film does not assign responsibility or offer conclusions; instead, it leaves open a fundamental question: who, in fact, are the barbarians?
Structured as a sensory polyphony, the film brings into dialogue French and Greek, extended through English and Spanish subtitles, alongside poetry, voice, music, drawing, and soundscapes. Images and sounds interact to create a cosmopolitan space in which meaning is not imposed but gradually constructed with the viewer.
Animation and dance are central to this exploration. Freed in part from rational control, the drawing remains vibrant and often unfinished, inviting the spectator’s imagination to complete it. The larval movements of Butō encounter other choreographic forms — geometric, expressive, or free — playing on the tension between structure and release.
Rejecting cinema as mere distraction, the film proposes a poetic and critical experience, seeking to expand cinematic language in order to question the choices, contradictions, and possible futures of our societies.