In the upcoming doc Panellinion, presented as a work-in-progress at Agora Docs, Giannis is the long-suffering proprietor of the eponymous cafe in Athens where regulars come to eat, drink and talk, but especially to play chess.
Most of the time the chess is blitz, ie played at break neck pace not only against opponents who will contest any violation of the rules (if you touch the piece you have to play it) but against an unforgiving clock. If you run out of time before your opponent, you lose.
For Giannis, these players cum customers (scientists, artists, retirees and tradesman alike) may be fanatical and somewhat oddball, but he nevertheless holds a fatherly affection for them. He feeds and waters them, and offers consolation, and even, when necessary, leaves them inside as he shuts up his café, their game yet to be finished.
Co-director Kostas Antarachas explains his film. “Panellinion captures everyday scenes of the coffee house in black and white, along with personal confessions of the characters, and also dramatizes their fantasies, memories and desires on Super-8 film, the only scenes that extend the film outside the boundaries of the coffee house,” he says. “Panellinion is shot throughout different seasons and whole years, witnessing the end of an old world with different bearings and moral codes. Men of all ages, ethnicities, social and economic backgrounds seek for a common shelter around chess boards, drinks and bites, listening to old rembetiko and folk music.”
“Throughout this dialectic back and forth…we will get to know the main characters and their place in the city, as they dwell in the coffee house, reviving stories of old legendary regulars, as though this is the only way they can exist themselves,” he continues, adding how the only female regular of the café is treated “just like the precious queen on the board.”
The 80-minute Greek language doc, budgeted at €48,805, has wrapped and the filmmakers are about to go into post- ahead of a late 2022 delivery. “Right now we have secured 40% of the film’s budget through financing from the Greek film Centre,” says producer Leonidas Konstantarakos. “And we are also waiting for a response from ERT the public broadcaster for an additional 36%. On top of that, we have agreements with all key members of the crew for partial or full deferral of their fees. And we are also in talks with several potential partners in order to ensure the completion of the film in the case we don’t manage to secure additional funds.” During Agora Docs, Konstantarakos is looking for sales representation and festival premieres.
Co-director Spyros Mantzavinos tells how they (the co-directors and the producer) are regulars of the coffee house themselves, and that there is a particular urgency to tell this story as owner Giannis is thinking of retiring due to declining trade in the café. “These are not only seemingly grotesque chessaholics,” he says of his film’s subjects, “but also deep, affectionate, sensitive and complex characters that we wanted to immortalize. These are our friends and this film is about them. Also, this is our last chance to make this film.”
