Yorgos Psailas - A portrait of the British Cemetery caretaker

A short documentary, based on the theory of Observational Cinema. It is the portrait of the caretaker of the British Cemetery in the island of Corfu, Greece, Mr. Yorgos Psailas. The documentary deals with his daily life in the cemetery. Mr. Psailas also recounts the most important moments of his life as well as his thoughts about life and death.
Direction / Photography / Sound / Editing: Mixing: Andreas Vouliakis Translation from Italian: Athanasia Liatsi Ionian University Faculty of Music and Audiovisual Arts – Department of Audiovisual Arts Supervisor: Maria Chalkou
Related Works
The film refers to the pandemic crisis of covid-19 in the country, after the enforcement of the restriction measures. It observes the everyday life of the town centre of Corfu. It includes the randomness of recording the reality, the contradictions and the paradox of it. It attempts to render the suffocating atmosphere, that has a huge impact on the everyday life and the psychology of the people.
"Oh, Johnny!" is a short documentary about John (Vinylios), his interest in fashion and his relation to drag shows.
Presentation of 3d projection mapping, on Church of Panagia ton Xenon, Kyra - Faneromeni (Old Town, Corfu, Greece), October 2, 2020 at 10:00.
In the dissertation, following the strategy of deliberate ambiguity and crossing different eras, we go through a path of images and information, which express hope and fear in various fields and they characterize every culture and every society.
At the same time, moving from formalism to realism, it emerges that the Aristotelian definition of the representational unity of space-time-action is no longer valid in art. Undoubtedly, the formalist movement has shown that planes are understood not only as sequences of logical units, but also as theoretical or ideological conceptions, where their connection is not legitimized on the basis of the principle of space-time unit, but by some abstract theoretical model, such as is the model of metaphor, the path through contradictions, symbolism and anything else that enhances the removal of the theoretical model. But also internal realism, which is not a theory of truth, highlights the convergence of two seemingly incompatible ideas.
The quarantine's experience time has functioned as a humanized time. Its previous social barbarity was imprisoned in the familiar cage of my soul and became my creation time. Each day was my friend, an eternal circular and dynamic present, a consciousness without conflicts. It was like an eternity that is experienced differently every moment. An unprecedented form of stillness gripped me and perpetuated in many abstract fragments which finally formed the new texture of my existence, in this peculiar isolation. I became from the carcass of time I was before, its qualitative disintegration… Reality was distorted and experienced illusively. The time from the alienation that was before, was transformed and became the cover for the scratched truth of myself. This kind of time my conscience had dreamed to live.
The portrait of Dimitra Samara, a talented dress designer, who decided to pursue her dream only a few years ago. A great misfortune in her life brought her closer to her dreams. The only way to overcome her shock was to escape through her passion. So, through a voice-over narration and the creation of a dress, from scratch to its final form, we follow a parallel evolution: That of the red dress and of her own self.
This changing frame represents an allegorical image of human nature, which when it is in dialectic with the outside world - during the transition from private to public life, experiences conflicting feelings of apprehension, anticipation, reticence, curiosity and extroversion.
The AVARTS team's project "Filter Bubbles" aims to raise critical reflection on the extent of the responsibility attributed to algorithms and technology for the formation of these "isolation bubbles". Furthermore, through the artistic process, it aims to weaken the positive feedback loops that gigantize imperfect information, foster fear and undermine creativity.












