Latera

Cast

• Nikos Chtouros

Credits

Screenwriters

Dimitris Glyfos Marianna Rapti

Producers

Dimitris Glyfos

Editors

Dimitris Glyfos

Sound editors

George Melesanakis

Composers

George Melesanakis

Directors Statement

The idea for the short film LATERΑ was born after reading the true story of acfather who murdered his own son, who suffered from schizophrenia threatening to kill everyone around him (the actual events are attached to the film profile). This particular story touched me mainly because a relative of mine suffered from schizophrenia and died fighting his demons. Also, as a
father and as a lawyer, I was particularly concerned with the judgment of justice in similar cases with intense emotional charge of the murderer-father himself but also of public opinion, as well as the reasoning of the court decision (in this case, the father was not sentenced to life imprisonment, as mitigating factors were recognized, contrary to what usually happened in heinous crimes of that time).
In terms of the directorial eye, I approached the subject as a detached observer, aiming for static shots for most of the film, adding intensity with the camera in hand only in the last minutes of the climax.

I also used natural light because I wanted the film to give the feeling of a documentary and realism. The use of natural light as a tool towards the end of the film was a big gamble. Also, the cycle of light in the film plays an important
role, as it starts from darkness and ends in darkness, a fact that parallels the birth (womb) and the death of “things”.

The sea, as a common place-meeting point of the present protagonist (father) and the absent protagonist (son) is consciously non stormy during the filming, as I wanted to externalize the intensity of the relationship and emotions exclusively and solely from the father' s expression and the voice over text.

The abstract and minimal approach in both the direction and the voice overtext is conscious, as I did not want to blackmail the emotion, to take the viewer by the hand and lead them somewhere or to create images whose content would have no functionality in the development of the story.
Furthermore, the film captures one day of the protagonist’s life, showing the repetitiveness and routine of a life with no purpose, but also tightly woven around the protagonist's mental entrapment in remorse, guilt, second thoughts, loneliness and the isolation that loneliness ultimately seeks or
brings.

Finally, I did not choose a professional actor for the protagonist role because I wanted an innocent naturalness, a performance that was at times unartistic and "naive" in which I left space and gave guidance only in terms of the big picture, but always according to the demands of the script.