Essence

Greek subtitles available
WINNER - Award of Merit (Experimental) - Best Shorts Competition 2018
WINNER - Silver Award (Best Experimental Short) - Independent Shorts Awards 2018
Official Selection - 2018 Bournemouth Arts by the Sea Festival
Official Selection - 2018 Amsterdam Lift-Off Online Festival
"A highly evocative cinematic-essay... Thought-provoking narration complimented by hypnotic sound design and camera work. A powerful piece of filmmaking that casts a real spell!" (Dr Brad Gyori, five-time Emmy-nominated writer and director)
From the creators of the award-winning short films 'At the Edge of the Present' & 'A Certain Type of Freedom'
ESSENCE
A short film about human beings
Narrated by Sam Booth
Written & Directed by Roman Gerodimos
Based on the Essay 'Look to the Guiding Stars!' by Paul Badura-Skoda
Starring:
Mara Kaisari
Kimon Maragoudakis
Victoria Cunto
Elissavet Anastasakou
Anahita Guha Choudhury
and Olga Damani
essencethemovie.com
In 1967, Austrian pianist and music scholar Paul Badura-Skoda wrote an essay addressed to his students. He then passed that on to his friend, my piano teacher, Eva Anastasiadou-Stange.
Shortly before she died in 1997, Eva gave me a copy of the essay.
This is my personal, lived version of that text.
Essence is a visual essay on creativity and inspiration, on the challenges facing each and every one of us - on our shared humanity and need for hope, faith and love.
Filmed at the National Conservatoire of Greece in Athens, at Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg, and at El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires, with additional footage shot in Havana, Montevideo, London, New York, Paris and Rome, Essence moves across space and time in search of the forces that drive us. Essence is an experimental short movie with autobiographical elements. It challenges conventional genre boundaries, pays homage to the 'music video' genre and features a compelling narration by British actor Sam Booth, as well as three original recordings of works by Bach, Schubert and Brahms, and a full soundtrack. It stars legendary Greek actress Olga Damani, as well as a group of first-time actors from three continents. The five women of Essence capture the narrator's lived experience across different life cycles.

[@georgioskaryotis8064]

This is lovely! Will need a second watch to unpack but it immediately resonates. Well done and thanks for sharing these thoughts in that way!

[@Asrim]

Qué maravilla.