Dimitris Poulos makes his directorial debut with “Prophet”, an ambitious production starring Giorgos Chraniotis. See the first, international trailer exclusively at Flix and read what its creator “revealed” to us!
What is the “Prophet”, apart from Dimitris Poulos‘s first independent feature film?
And why does its creator believe we have to (again) become prophets of ourselves?
The trailer that you can see exclusively at Flix and what its director confesses give us the first revealing answers.
Q. How did you get to the first feature film?
After three short films – all awarded at international festivals – and completing my film studies in New York, I was looking for the story for a feature film. I had already written a script but it was very ambitious for a first movie. But it will be my second film.
Q. And the idea of ”Prophet” as a result?
The Spark for the “Prophet” was the excellent book by Dimitris Dimopoulos “In the Sanctuary of the Greek Oracles”, which is the best and most sincere introduction to the (undervalued) phenomenon of the Greek Oracles. I began dreaming of a film about what would happen if an oracle was operating today if there existed a modern Pythia. At the same time I visited several sites and one of them was the Avgou Monastery in the prefecture of Argolis. I was impressed by the energy of the area and I started writing the script.
The “Prophet” is the story of a soldier who, in time of war, arrives at a monastery looking for his father. However, during his stay there he suspects that those who live in the monastery may even hide something…The film is not placed in time, it is an ambivalent present (as the oracles were also ambivalent). At the heart of this story is the search for the soldier, played by George Hraniotis. In the monastery there are no monks but pacifists who, for ideological reasons, do not want to fight. But as the thread of the plot unfolds, we find that the war that unfolds and has global implications also concerns the characters themselves.
Q. Is there a “religious” symbolism in the title of the film?
The “Prophet” is an epic word that comes from the depths of the ages. Always the world has needed prophets, as did the divination. But now, this role has changed to the point where one really wonders if someone really needs to point out a direction. Little prophets are our parents, teachers, religious leaders, all who shape us. But great prophets are absent. Maybe we do not need them anymore. Maybe we (again) need to become prophets of ourselves.
Q. How did you choose your actors?
I chose the actors within three days. It was the easiest casting I’ve ever done because I knew exactly what I wanted and I was lucky to find it. But we worked for months on the analysis of the script and rehearsals. I believe that the interpretations that the audience will see will have something unique. In addition to Giorgos Chraniotis, the cast includes Menelaos Hazarakis, Steve Christofer, Nathan Thomas, Giorgos Papastilianos and Dimitra Kouza. It was a delight to work with this cast.
Q. Where was the film shot?
The shooting took place in the Monastery of Avgou in Argolida, Peloponnesos (Greece) and in the neaby region. It lasted six weeks. It was really very difficult because of the harsh location but the whole team was excellent. They believed in the movie and the result from day one.
Q. What was the biggest difficulty you encountered in creating the Prophet?
The hardest for me was to stay focused on the essence of the script and to realize my directing vision through. Unfortunately, I also took the role of the producer, along with my friend and great colleague Socrates Spanos, thanks to whom the film was realized. Being a director-producer is not unusual in Greece, so it was an easy choice which allowed me to control production. The indifference of public organizations and the municipality of Nafplio did not prevent us from completing the film. Besides, the ordinary everyday people of the wider region warmly embraced us and we thank them. We were the first to use Arri’s new Alexa camera in a Greek film and the result along with the great cinematography of Ramon Malapetsa and the sets and costumes of Kika Karabela have created a very high level aesthetics.
Q. What is your opinion about the boom of Greek cinema in a time of crisis?
Greek cinema has been doing great work in recent years, both technically and aesthetically, and we are on an extraordinary level. Surely the difficulties are quite a few but we must remember that through the social difficulties the most important cinema movements were born – Italian neo-realism, the French new wave etc. I know that I will get criticized about this, but I think despite the odds, it is a blessing to be a director today in Greece. There’s so much you can talk about…
3/30/2012