‘Queer representation in films and television is still lacking a lot’: Greek director Zacharias Mavroeidis

Greek filmmaker Zacharias Mavroeidis at the AFI Fest 2023, Los Angeles, the US. (Photo: Stephanie Cornfield)

Bollywood has for long, from the ’60s to Salman Khan’s Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) for the song Swag se karenge sabka swagat, been visiting the Greek shores to shoot its films and songs, but it has not imbibed the liberal values of the place in its films. Barring Onir and a handful others, the screen representation of the queer community has remained tragic.

To enter the world of Greek director Zacharias Mavroeidis’ warm comedy To kalokairi tis Karmen (The Summer with Carmen), which screened at American Film Institute’s 2023 AFI Fest, is to enter a brightly coloured summer dream, where time seems to linger for some moments more as the deep blue sea breeze rekindles old memories. It is to enter the promise of an old friendship that scorns you but also stands by you when your world turns upside down. It’s a spin on the classic rom-com that wears the rainbow shades with Pride.

Demosthenes (Yorgos Tsiantoulas) and Nikitas (Andreas Lampropoulos) are best friends, they are also queer. Demosthenes looks like a Greek god has decided to be born in human form. Mavroeidis represents a heterogeneous range of homosexual men, distinct from one another, to break their stereotyping by the heteronormative world. Demosthenes, as Nikitas says, looks “straight” and gets to play straight roles in films, unlike him. A sighting of a dog on a rocky sea beach reminded them of the summer Demosthenes spent with a winsome Chihuahua, Carmen, in the prospect of turning that into a screenplay for Nikitas’ feature debut. The dog belonged to Demosthenes’ ex-lover Panos (Nikolas Mihas), who, that summer, drifted apart. Demos, clueless about what he has done wrong, takes Panos’ dog in. Carmen brings joy and love into Demosthenes life, even helps him to bond with his estranged mother. Like Aki Kaurismäki’s beautiful new film Fallen Leaves, in the Greek film, too, there’s joy to be found in colour and in the companionship of dogs.

In India, the Supreme Court has declined this year to legalise same-sex unions, dashing the hopes of the LGBTQIA+ community’s hopes. And while the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a centre-right politician, has said he’d legalise same-sex marriage at some point, Greece is still one of the most liberal countries in southern Europe, and recognises cohabitation of same-sex couples.

There are messages from the community to the straight audiences. But it is wholly refreshing to watch a film on queer protagonists that is not just about the gay-ness of the characters, to see Pride marches on film, and the main storyline is not about Demosthenes and Panos relationship, but Nikitas and Demosthenes’ friendship and Carmen.

Edited excerpts from an email interview:

Have you visited India or seen any Indian films? In the 1950s-’60s, many Bollywood films were shot in Greece. Even now, Greece remains a top destination for film shooting?

I never had the chance to travel to India. I’ve seen a few Indian films, mostly Bollywood musicals, which seem so exotic to me. Back in the 1960s, Bollywood dramas were very popular in Greece and they cast a big influence in Greek popular music of the days. The melody of many extremely popular songs from those days was inspired by the music in Bollywood films.

The Summer with Carmen is about love and the crisis in relationships, which is a universal theme.

In its core, the film is a compilation of love stories. Through the parallel storylines, the narrative explores the love between two friends, two ex-lovers, a mother and a son and, last but not least, the love with a dog. In that sense, Carmen — the dog, stands as an index of love. Whichever character is in greater need of love, gets the dog.

A still from The Summer with Carmen.

The film is also self-referentially meta, a film about the making of a film. The film feels like a series of Post-it notes on the days in the life of Demosthenes. What was your idea behind making this film?

The very first draft of the film had only a prologue and an epilogue in the present and the rest of the story was a solid flashback to the events of the summer with Carmen. However, during the writing process with my co-writer and close friend Xenofondas Chalatsis the present part of the story, where the two protagonists recall the events, took shape into an equally important part of the script. This was because, as it turned out, the way one recalls, or better, say, reshapes, the past, is a very rich source of drama, equally fruitful as the actual events. In the end, I believe that the film playfully meditates on the notions of change and identity through this juxtaposition of real life and fiction.

A still from The Summer with Carmen.

Much of the film is shot by the gorgeous Greek seaside. It’s like a space away from society, where men can be in touch with their own nature. This is also where Demosthenes and Nikitas brainstorm about the film they want to make.

This location is an actual queer beach south of Athens. It’s a landmark for the LGBTQ community of the Greek capital where cruising has been taking place since decades. The narrative spends a day there with the heroes, introducing the audience to this ‘exotic’ ambience. Cruising areas in many places of the world are naturist beaches. And, although most often they are portrayed as lustful places, cruising areas are way more than that. They are places where one can socialise, feel safe to express oneself, enjoy nature, be creative. In that sense, I feel that The Summer with Carmen pays justice to cruising spots.

The film has a very strong queer identity but at the same time, its queerness is not part of the narrative structure, meaning that I could easily tell the same story with the main characters being straight — I could only twist the gender of the ex. The spine of the story talks about two friends struggling to write a script together. I think this somehow differentiates the film from the majority of queer cinema where queer identity tends to be in the centre of the plot.

A still from The Summer with Carmen.

Homosexuality and Greece have had a long relationship, to the mention of ‘pederasty’ in the ancient times. What has been modern Greece’s relationship with homosexuality and the LGBTQIA+ community at large, in terms of queer laws and queer representation in cinema?

It’s been a long, long time since Ancient Greece. The way we talk or analyse sexuality in ancient times is extremely biased by our present morals and preconceptions and, in Greece, even more, since this reflects on our national identity. In other words, most conservative Greeks don’t think of Ancient Greece as a heaven for queer people. And those who do, should have in mind that all the words we use to define sexuality in Ancient Greek are modern or have changed meaning since the ancient time: for example, there is a long-standing debate about the definition of pederasty. Modern Greece is a Balkan country, with morals that are closer to the East than to the West. In terms of laws, we are somehow running after the EU (European Union) average. The same-sex marriage is said to be proposed by the current, all mighty, right-wing government. However, it’s quite probable that the majority of its MPs (members of Parliament) will struggle to vote for it.

Regarding representation in films and television, I think we are still lacking a lot.

Your film screened at the 2023 AFI Fest in Los Angeles. Where is the film travelling to next?

The film has a lot of screening ahead. Paris, Brussels, Goteborg, Nice, Lyon, Sydney, Barcelona, Chicago, Washington DC. I’m really happy for this journey that started in September, in the Giornate degli Autori section of Venice International Film Festival.