EMILIO

Short Film (2023)

Concept, Co-direction, Production, Acting

During the first lockdown in Athens, in the hush of empty streets and full hearts, this short film was born out of a shared glass of wine and a quietly aching absence. EMILIO follows three people mourning a loved one – drifting through vodka, memories and pizza boxes as they search for connection. A film about late-night confessions, childhood myths, furious tenderness, tears – and the soft absurdity of trying to live with the impossible.





“Being with someone is not easy. Being with yourself is not easy either.” In EMILIO, the border between dream and memory softens. Emilio was a brother, a lover, a friend – and then a pizza delivery boy from the other side. In the middle of grief, something fragile and real takes shape: improvisation, intimacy, and the quiet bravery of telling a story together. In the end, we lie in bed. Naked, alive, connected.

The themes of this film echo what I keep returning to in my artistic practice: fragility, identity, liminal spaces. EMILIO is part of a larger narrative I’m weaving – about queer longing, loss, and the strange beauty of shared silence. Created together with a group of Greek artists in a time of global stillness, this film became a gentle act of remembrance – and a way to hold on to something before it disappears.


Credits:

Cast: Donna Petropoulou, Grigoris Ballas, Andreas Tobias, Emilios Aleksandris
Camera: Eva Balasi
Assistant: Marsa Papachristopoulou
Editing: Robin Thomson
Styling: Fenia Kamenidi & Addison Mesic
Make-up: Nicole Sourvini
Sound: Thanos Petrou
Music: Baharat – The Egyptian, Moğollar – Çığrık
Production: Andreas Tobias