A.C.A.B. All Cats Are Brilliant (2012)
Director: Constantina Voulgaris
Country: Greece
Runtime: 88 min
Helectra is a young woman in her early 30’s living in contemporary Athens. She is an artist but makes her money as a babysitter. She lives with her dog in the dirty, crowded centre of Athens. She is an activist and she lives her life in a non -conformist way. She looks much more confident and strong than she really is. She is lonely, scared and struggles to find her place in the world. Although she is 30, she still lives as a student. She doesn’t mind, but sometimes she feels the pressure to “grow up” and be “like everybody”. She has a relationship with Manousos, a working class 37 year old man, an idealist, a hardcore anarchist who is in prison, facing the antiterrorist law.
Her best friend is Petros, the 8 year old boy she abysits. They discuss politics, art, relationships, their need to be loved, their need to feel wanted by their families. Her parents are middle class leftists, intellectuals who have lived in the great period of the 60’s and who still think of themselves as rebels. Although they speak highly of the “revolution” they still want their daughter to “get a real job”, to find “a good husband”, all the clichés that every parents what for their kids. The only person she opens herself to, is Argyris. A 55 year old man who walks his dog in the same park she walks hers.
Argyris is an architect, married with a teenage daughter who always gets into trouble. She feels free to speak to him about all her worries, all the uncertainties that she has. She invites him to the big event she is planning. With a group of activists and neighbors they occupy an abandonded parking lot and they make it a community park. They plant trees and they put playground toys. The whole neighborhood is out there. Helectra is with them, she tries to dance but she is shy. She tries a bit harder and at the end she finds her rhythm!
Country: Greece
Runtime: 88 min
Helectra is a young woman in her early 30’s living in contemporary Athens. She is an artist but makes her money as a babysitter. She lives with her dog in the dirty, crowded centre of Athens. She is an activist and she lives her life in a non -conformist way. She looks much more confident and strong than she really is. She is lonely, scared and struggles to find her place in the world. Although she is 30, she still lives as a student. She doesn’t mind, but sometimes she feels the pressure to “grow up” and be “like everybody”. She has a relationship with Manousos, a working class 37 year old man, an idealist, a hardcore anarchist who is in prison, facing the antiterrorist law.
Her best friend is Petros, the 8 year old boy she abysits. They discuss politics, art, relationships, their need to be loved, their need to feel wanted by their families. Her parents are middle class leftists, intellectuals who have lived in the great period of the 60’s and who still think of themselves as rebels. Although they speak highly of the “revolution” they still want their daughter to “get a real job”, to find “a good husband”, all the clichés that every parents what for their kids. The only person she opens herself to, is Argyris. A 55 year old man who walks his dog in the same park she walks hers.
Argyris is an architect, married with a teenage daughter who always gets into trouble. She feels free to speak to him about all her worries, all the uncertainties that she has. She invites him to the big event she is planning. With a group of activists and neighbors they occupy an abandonded parking lot and they make it a community park. They plant trees and they put playground toys. The whole neighborhood is out there. Helectra is with them, she tries to dance but she is shy. She tries a bit harder and at the end she finds her rhythm!
