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| Emilios Avraam on Smaragda: 'If you have someone as an inspiration and observe how they act in life, it becomes personal' Photo: Courtesy of POFF |
The film had its world premiere in the First Feature Competition at the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn, where we caught up with Avraam and Charalambous to talk about its origins and the challenges of making a film with a single character focus.
You’re a male director and this is a female-centric story, so I’m interested in why you decided to choose a female protagonist.
Emilios Avraam: The inspiration came from a person I know whose life's mishaps sort of forced her into a solitary way of life that was fulfilling nonetheless. Instead of conforming to a traditional family-oriented lifestyle, she chose a different path that intrigued me.
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| Emilios Avraam and Niovi Charalambous on the black carpet in Tallinn Photo: Courtesy of POFF |
I suppose the closer you keep it to the truth, the easier it is because the further you take it from reality, the more work you have to do.
EA: Exactly. When I found Niovi, she helped form this character and brought her own experiences into it, which was really helpful.
Was it traditional casting, or were there other methods you explored?
EA: Cyprus is small, and Niovistarred in my producer Tanya's last short film. The initial age I had for the character was around 55, but since we don't have many options in Cyprus, I decided to lower the age because I wanted to cast her. I had to make her look a bit older though.
And Niovi, what did you think when you read the script because this is a very full-on role?
Niovi Charalambous: Yes, I think I was only not in two or three scenes.
EA: You’re in every scene.
NC: Oh my God. Well, I read the part. It was very interesting because I did realise that it had to do with a woman older than me. We had this discussion and I was wondering if it was going to be possible because, I’m 43, but I generally feel much younger than I am. I feel 16.
EA: Me too, but our bodies are like, “No, you’re not.”
NC: But there was a question because from maybe 50 and on there is a change in a woman's physical situation in general. So I read the part. It was a very complicated part but at the same time specific things resonated. Emilios wrote the script two years back but I lost my mother not even a month before we shot the movie. It had some scenes that were very difficult for me but at the same time they were a bit liberating.
EA: We didn't over-rehearse. We just met a few times with the other actors to just establish the tone of it and then I deliberately didn't do more rehearsals because sometimes the first take is the most genuine one and she was giving me that.
The film is quite stripped back. It’s very unfussy and you’re not wearing a lot of make-up. Did that make things more challenging for you as an actress?
NC: I loved that because, I think if it’s genuine, it just comes out better. Emilios is a very calm person.
EA: That’s my number one rule. Whatever stress is going on behind the actors, leave it away from them, I don’t want it here.
There’s a contrast in the role concerning the performances she does for social media. That must be challenging. You probably haven’t acted like a cat since theatre school.
NC: I did have a TikTok during Covid because I was extremely bored.
EA: But it was something to stay connected. But in this case, with these videos the character wants to do something edgy to get attention in order for her to raise awareness for the environment and animals. She’s doing these over the top performances to gain followers in order to get the show she wants to do, which is to educate people about gender equality, about climate change, hot topics that are important.
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| Niovi Charalambous: 'It had some scenes that were very difficult for me but at the same time they were a bit liberating' Photo: Courtesy of POFF |
The “thick skin” element of the title is interesting. Quite often in films like this, the female characters are cowed if they are approached in the street but Smaragda doesn’t have those kinds of doubts about herself.
EA: That genuinely comes from the character Smaragda is based on. She’s like that, she doesn’t give a shit. So that was the inspiration - to keep that line through the character whatever happens. Life kept happening to her, she went through schizophrenic relationships, lost her mother to cancer, she got cancer herself. And she decided to lead this solitary life and she's happy ,and she's great with kids even though she didn't have them.
In terms of the shooting, you choose to keep Smaragda in the frame a lot.
EA: I really wanted to metaphorically, and literally dive into her brain and her world because it's not a, it's not a plot-based, so, I felt like I needed to spend as much time with her as possible - every glimpse, every twinkle of her eye - so we understand her even though we don’t say a lot of things about her.
And how was it to work with the children who Smaragda looks after at the holiday resort?
EA: I remember a line she said that after we were done with those scenes, she was like, “Thank you so much. Now, I know why I chose not to have kids”.
NC: They were a lot but they were super, they were so sweet and one or two of them were so in love with me, and I was so in love with that, but it was too much. Some of the kids gave me presents after the shooting, drawing something or making a little flower from the things in the scene. It was so touching. Generally, I cried a lot in this movie after we finished shooting scenes.
The truth is that there were so many parts, little ones and then some very big ones that were so connected to me at that point of my life, with men, with mama, with dogs, there are all these questions and these ways of being alive. There are two choices when you are so fucked up, you either give up or you go on. There comes a point where she is worried about what’s happening around her and she starts dealing with them more.
It's quite an unusual view of Cyprus as well in a way.
EA: It is because it's very traditional in Cyprus. They go through the traditional mould of being family-oriented. There was another film by a Greek filmmaker, Animal, that was interesting and showed the darker side of a tourist resort. It came out and I was [throws his hands in the air]. I love that film but it’s totally different.
Tell me a bit about working with the composer George Solonos on the score.
EA: The composer has been my friend for 17 years. We’ve worked together a lot. I told him I want something with natural elements to think about this animal thing and make it more tribal. And he used a lot of natural sounds, the bass was his cupboard. He used a lot of these things for the score. I wanted to give this quirky tone to the film because even though it's a drama there's some comic elements. I felt the music would bring those together.
It’s a film about being resilient in the face of what life throws at you.
NC: It’s much more reality based and grounded. That’s because the story is real. But Emilios is also a grounded person and he has a very feminine side.
EA: My producer told me that as well.
NC: It's adorable actually. I mean, he's not gay.
EA: I'm not but I sort of could be because I’m not following the gender norms of being a man.
NC: He’s very sweet. He has this tenderness. He's a very tender person around people that he doesn't even know. That's why I think it also went very, very smoothly. All the difficulties just came from outside. It was not from inside. We were helping him push it. He knew what he wanted and we were just trying to make it better for his vision because he’s worth it..
Are you already working on future films?
EA: Yes, it's a sort of collection of memories from my adolescent years. It’s in the same town, Ayia Napa, because that’s where I was raised and that’s where the UK Garage Music came onto the scene in the Nineties. We were prepared to go to the Army and I was 17, I was just a kid. So it's about a 17-year-old boy navigating the notions of love, masculinity and human identity basically, before going into the Army and being forced to become a man.
We need to reintroduce a positive form of masculinity because there’s currently an attack on masculinity, rightfully so, as some men in power have crossed lines. I believe we need to reintroduce it, and the way to do so is interesting. I’ve done a lot of research, both personally and through various articles, about men and boys who start losing genuine communication with friends and family, right about adolescence. That’s when they shut down and stop expressing their feelings because feelings are perceived as something for girls or gays. It still is the case, although not so much, but back then that’s what it was, we couldn’t express our feelings. So it’s about how to regain that healthy masculinity.
