09/04/2024 - The Greek auteur’s new project will interweave ten love stories “of gods, titans, nuns, madmen, Americans and suicidal girls, set in the wildest corners of the Aegean Sea”

Greek filmmaker Syllas Tzoumerkas (The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea [+see also:
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The story, described as “ten interwoven love stories of gods, titans, nuns, madmen, Americans and suicidal girls, set in the wildest corners of the Aegean Sea”, reflects both a lament for lost purity, and an examination of the islands' complex blend of paganism and Christianity. This dichotomy serves as a fertile ground for exploring mythological themes, intertwining tales of gods and titans with the lives of the characters in a way that offers new perspectives on ancient myths. At the heart of My Soul Startled, which covers the period between the 1930s and the early 1990s, lie the works of writer Yiannis Kl Zervos, which have served as a foundation for the film's story while paying homage to a voice from the past, bringing forgotten tales to the forefront of modern Greek cinema. 

My Soul Startled marks a return to classic fiction filmmaking for the Greek auteur, diverging from the docu-fiction approach of his previous work, The City and the City [+see also:
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film profile]. Location scouting has been a crucial part of the film's pre-production, with Tzoumerkas and his team seeking out the Aegean's most remote and untouched landscapes. The director revealed to Cineuropa that My Soul Startled will be his first take on a romance story exploring love, insanity, and the inevitable clash between old worlds and new realities. He noted that in terms of the form, he will continue with the realist poetics of his previous works, using a film language in dialogue with Pier Paolo Pasolini, or modern auteurs like Andrea Arnold and Lucrecia Martel; however, this time in particular, he will reference the sprawling narration of films by Bernardo Bertolucci and the Taviani brothers. He adds that he plans to utilise a variety of camera types for a visceral depiction of the Aegean's wild landscapes and the characters that inhabit them, culminating in an anamorphic 70 mm format. The film will be shot mostly in Greece, with some scenes filmed in Italy, which will also be reflected in the multilingual nature of the story. With development wrapped, Tzoumerkas and the producers are completing the financing, aiming to start production in 2025.

My Soul Startled is a Greek-Italian-French-Austrian-Cypriot co-production being staged by Homemade Films, and co-produced by Nefertiti Film, Sister Productions, Nabis Film Group, Felony Productions and the Onassis Foundation. The project has been supported by the Greek Film Centre, ERT SA, MIC – Direzione Generale Cinema e Audiovisivo, the Nouvelle Aquitaine Regional Film Fund and Creative Europe – MEDIA.