Private Project

Yama

Just like fire spreading, what starts as a small children’s lie can end up as a poor neighbourhood’s racist fight. And what we know from history, what starts as local territorial disputes can end up as a world war. Nationalism, racism, neo-Nazism, war, catastrophes, imperialism, still rule the world as we know it. War is just one fire away.

Independence Day in Athens. Everybody celebrates the 200 years since the Greek Revolution. Not everybody. A girl is not allowed to play with the boys. Neither is a small boy, an immigrant’s son. The girl lights a small fire and tells a small lie about the boy. Small lies easily get out of control. So do small fires.

  • Andreas Vakalios
    Director
  • Andreas Vakalios
    Writer
  • Yannis Karpouzis
    Producer
  • Maria Karantinaki
    Key Cast
  • Nikolakis Zegkinoglou
    Key Cast
  • Blerim Dhampiraj
    Key Cast
  • Stefanos Damianidis
    Key Cast
  • Yannis Nanis
    Key Cast
  • Fili Olsefski
    Director of Photography
  • Eva Goulakou
    Set Design
  • Gabriela Gerolemou
    Editor
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Γιάμα
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    June 20, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    Greece
  • Country of Filming:
    Greece
  • Language:
    Modern Greek (1453-)
  • Shooting Format:
    Arri Alexa mini
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Andreas Vakalios

Andreas Vakalios was born in Budapest, Hungary and was raised in Athens, Greece. He studied Digital Arts (MFA) at the Athens School of Fine Arts. He is a Talents Sarajevo alumnus and a Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship Award recipient. His short film "Mila" was awarded Best Greek Film by the Greek Film Critics' Association among 10 other awards and 30 international film festivals. He lives in Athens.

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Director Statement

We are very proud that our team is as talented as it is diverse.

Our young protagonist, 8-year-old Stefanos, is hearing-impaired, he was deaf until the age of six when he got a transplant. He is now learning to speak clearly. Our music composer, Lefteris, is visually-impaired, with his vision being worsened by the day.

One of our lead actors, Blerim, is an immigrant of Albanian descent. Furthermore, approximately 20% of our cast & crew are first or second generation immigrants or refugees.

Our young protagonist, Maria, is a 13-year-old hatching feminist and filmmaker. Almost 50% of our crew is female, holding key creative positions such as direction of photography, editing and art-direction.