A sun-soaked, blissfully nostalgic yet impressively complex insight into the hidden stories of Lesbos, the birthplace of Sappho and meeting place for lesbians since the 1970s
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY BEA UHART
Could you tell us a bit about what inspired you to make this film?
I was born and raised in Lesvos. In 1980 I went to Eresos for the first time, where I met the first lesbian of my life, realizing at the same time that I am a lesbian too. A double one at that, a proper one with an ID. Having lived through the glory days of Eresos when we lived free and safe on the beach but with a feminist consciousness, I felt that by the late 2010s, the sense of community was beginning to fade. The women who came thought of it as one of many places to have fun, unaware of what we had to go through to ensure a safe space where they could enjoy themselves freely. It was then that I realised I had to record our history, not to allow knowledge of such a special place, that is Sappho’s home, to be lost.
That’s how I started talking to women who had been coming to Eressos for years. I soon realised that as a double lesbian, I needed to talk about the locals who had to deal with and try to reconcile, with people so very different from them. Basically, I believe, this film needed to be done to tell the herstory of what we needed to go through to have the rights we are enjoying today.
This is a community project, not just my story. I wouldn’t have been able to complete it without the help of the wonderful women who wanted to share their experience, their stories, and their photos of this amazing place that changed our lives.
What is the key message you hope LGBTQIA audiences take from your film?
I would like people who feel diverse, living in oppressive societies, to feel that not only do we have the right to exist, but to learn that there, at the end of the world, we have managed to create the conditions to live safely and enjoy our lives. To make the film a form of support for those individuals who are still struggling for the self-evident right to have the life they –we- desire. Younger generations need to learn about our history and what we had to go through to be able to claim their rights today, such that our generation never even imagined. Often, if we ignore our history, we can easily fall into the trap of taking those rights for granted and thus lose them. That is why I have already started organising the lesbian archives of Eressos, collecting as many oral testimonies, photos, and videos as I can, in order to create an online archive where whoever needs it, will be able to research, hear the entire interviews and the footage that hasn’t been used in the film.
What are the main themes that your film explores?
Lesvia is a documentary about two very different groups of Lesbians; the native inhabitants of the island of Lesvos but also the women who love women, the ones who have made parts of the island their own. It tells the stories of what this place means to lesbians; how a lesbian community has built roots, a space to call home and a sense of belonging in Eressos over the years. It also looks at the history of this uneasy relationship between groups and the inevitable clash of cultures between the traditionally conservative islanders and their less inhibited visitors It also ventures in the eventual (if reluctant) tolerance and ultimate acceptance of their gay guests.
What is your favourite line or scene from your film?
My favourite quote is when Teresa, a dear friend and owner of the first women-only hotel in Eressos – who sadly passed away – says: “All women, from all over the fucking place of the earth.” This is how every lesbian felt when she was arriving in Eressos in the 80s and the 90s. Being forced to remain hidden all your life, arriving in Eresos and being surrounded by lesbians felt like an inverted world where you were the majority and that was not just accepted but actually the norm.
How did you get into filmmaking and what has been your biggest challenge in the industry?
Making films is my way to communicate with the world around me and to connect with people in a deeper, more real way. I first got a video camera in my hands when, at a young age, I participated in a seminar having Michelangelo Antonioni as a supervisor. I loved his films. My first shots were of the hands of women who were narrating their stories. I then studied in Rome but my return to Greece was a very unpleasant surprise. They didn’t consider women to be good enough to be directors of photography, as if you need male-enlarged muscles to be able to work with the light. I had to suffer many attempts of molestation as I worked for years for free. Still, it was too much for me to put up with, this toxic masculinity in the TV and film industry, so I decided to concentrate on photography where I could finally express myself the way I wanted. I had to reach a 50-year-old self to finally become a filmmaker, all with some help from technology.
Why is LGBTQIA representation in film so important in 2024?
It has been since even the beginning of cinema, but it has become even more, especially with the spread of TV and social media. Images are influencing the subconscious of people. They create needs that we didn’t know that we had and they create role models. They “teach” what is right and what is wrong. Growing up I had no image of what it meant to be a lesbian. Correction: the only lesbians I knew were the ones of gossip-talk.They were presented as unlucky, miserable women who had no one in their life and eventually, they died alone. In the old times, in the first films, lesbians would either commit suicide, or end up crazy, in prison, or even dead. It is time to change this. It is time to take our rightful place in this world and to speak about our colourful lives and feelings. We are humans, we are part of this society and this world has to make space for us!
Why are events like BFI Flare which centre LGBTQIA films so important?
My personal experience says that no matter how much you have accepted yourself when raised in a non-open and accepting environment, there is always a wound in the back of your mind, in your heart, that reminds you that you are not accepted. There is a voice that tells you that you have to fight in order to have a life as you want it. BFI Flare is like the beach of Eressos in the first decades. It creates a community where you can exchange, collaborate, and communicate with people such as yourself, in a protected environment. You are not the minority anymore and it is important, not only for the film industry, but as a healing process for us filmmakers. At least, this is how I feel about it.
This year’s Flare is split into the themes of Hearts, Bodies, and Minds. Do you have an LGBTQIA film which affected your heart, body, or mind?
I understand that we try to see things separately in order to make sense of our experiences and get a different perspective. We even use this to exchange ideas with them. I was always moved by my heart, and excited by my mind and felt it in my body. Furthermore, I believe a film cannot move anyone if it does not address all three. My film is about unifying them. I’d say Portrait of a Lady On Fire, because it is very close to my story, regarding the greatest love of my life with a painter, and love affects all three.
What do you hope to see in the future of LGBTQIA filmmaking?
I hope to see more happy endings, more joy, more fun. We have spent so many years feeling uncomfortable with our bodies, our choices, and our lives, it is time now to show how wonderful we are, how fragile and yet strong at the same time, how creative, how free, and how joyful. It is time to celebrate being ourselves and to keep making movies!
LESVIA screens at BFI FLARE on 14, 17, and 24 March at BFI Southbank. Find out more here.
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