A site-specific videotaped performance dedicated to the act of displacement: With a few to almost no personal items and parents displaced from Pontus, he was born in Garefi, moved to Aridaia and then was forced to move alone in many different “playgrounds”, with his final destination to be Athens. He had nothing but valuable memories.
From the island of Chios to Constantinople, with the goal of creating a beautiful life, they were forced to flee to Athens together forever and pack their lives in a suitcase. How can you create a new life from scratch after you have been displaced?
The sea can bring us together and part us away, at the same time. Three displaced people taught me to love the sea no matter what, and not be afraid of it. I grew up with them storytelling their lives to me, and it is my turn to tell their story…
This digital story explores in a very personal way themes of isolation, emotional imprisonment, and the tension between longing for escape and fearing the unknown. Inspired by Pasolini’s Medea, Tracey Emin’s raw artistry, and Cavafy’s poem The Windows, it blends archival material with personal footage to create a deeply introspective visual and auditory experience. Using muted colors, symbolic imagery, and a somber, reflective tone, my project highlights the protagonist’s confinement—both personal and societal. A voice-over narration of Cavafy’s poem gives the the emotional phase and struggle, questioning whether freedom is truly liberating or just another form of constraint.
Between the sea and dreams is a personal journey through memory, identity, and creativity. Through a continuous monologue spoken in Arabic, mixing old footage and quiet moments, the film explores what it means to belong home when home is scattered across different places. Shot in sepia with a nostalgic, grainy texture, it reflects on finding identity beyond borders and paperwork. Creativity becomes both an escape and a way to piece together a fragmented sense of self. Blending documentary and storytelling styles, Between the Sea and Dreams is a poetic process, one shaped by place, language, and the creative act itself.
The chaos that politics unleashes upon a person’s inner world, presented in an experimental short film that focuses on the biological reactions to conservative and liberal views, cognitive dissonance and more.
