Zachos Samoladas

Between my two hand drawn, 2D animated shorts there is gap of 30 years. Genesis in 1997 with its 25 minutes of animation took almost a decade to complete, full in color and traditional cell animation. The Runner 30 years later took almost 5 years, with a different approach, a harsh B/W look that seemed right for the feel of the movie. Genesis had little luck, it screened at the Drama Short Film Festival in Greece but the jury at the time didn't think that a 25 minute animated film should receive at least a honorary mention. Not money, or any other precious award, just a mention for the years of effort and the work done in the film.
And yes it was film, shot on a Neilson-hordell animation stand, frame by frame, for weeks. It was developed and color timed at Cinemagic in Athens. 
In 1997 when Genesis reached the Greek State Quality Awards it was the only animated film. Yet again, a newcomer in the field didn't had much luck also.
It took almost 30 years before Angelos Rouvas added my film in the history of Greek animation as he completed his enormous body of work researching and creating the timeline of greekanimation.com.
I thank from the bottom of my heart Angelos Rouvas for that small addition since his work is the most important contribution to the history of Greek cinema, along with the book on Animation by Giannis Vasiliadis. 
Genesis is now history, but at the time brought a bitter taste. 10 years of animation and camera work is too much for one person.

 

30 years past since then and another movie, another story surfaced. Another story from the past, the story of a legendary man who carried the message of the Athenian victory against the Persian army.
Yet behind the story and the legend hides a myth. The story of Pan, and that story haunted my since I listened to Mythology from Northwind. Pan and the thrill of the chase traveled in time with me until the moment I visited the Tomb of Marathon. I closed my eyes and felt the energy of the place. I heard the voices of men battling and the sound of swords. I heard the cries of the dying men and I think that at a point I heard the laughter of Pan and Miltiades sending the messenger to Athens.
Then came the music of Christos Stanisis and everything fell in place. Like Genesis, The Runner became a part of me, animated during the long hours of the night when children sleep. It is a personal project, a personal bet and a return to my roots.

Now the Runner is moving forward and has a life of its own. I thank the organizers of the festivals that accepted us and hope that the audience of my film will take a moment to think about history.

 

From the "Runner" to "Tokei Maru" it was a short distance and a lot of work. Tokei Maru, another theme from the past, another moment in history, this time in modern history. The story of a Japanese captain who threw overboard all of his precious cargo to save the lives of innicent people, Greeks and Armenians as the city of Smyrni (present Izmir) was set on fire and paramilitant groups killed women, children and men. The story of this mysterioys ship is now another part of me. It took me to the far reaches of the world. More than twenty (20) festivals and four (4) awards until now is my valuable cargo. One life in history, one more life from the past that shaped our present.

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Prometheus, the story of the Titan who was compationate of humans and stole the holy fire from Zeus. A story told many times, from different poits of vew. The animated short was produced during the pandemic and it was somehow ill fated since it took about two years to get on screen. Prometheus marks the first digiatl ink & paint and a mild use of 3D animation.

The Future is written on the past.

There are currently two projects up on the story board. A post apocalyptic project set in the not so distant future, sarcastic view about climate, climate change, human intervention and destruction and a project set in the 9th century AD.

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Only time will tell wich, if any, of the two projects will reach the screen.

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