Greece, United States

Documentary/fiction

In a timeworn Greek village nestled high in the mountains above an ancient volcano, a group of elderly villagers must move the remains of their ancestors to a mausoleum at the peak of the mountain of Prophet Elias …

Directed by: Kevin Walker, Irene Zahariadis
Written by: Kevin Walker, Irene Zahariadis, Mike Zahariadis, Angie Walker
Produced by: Jack Auen
Cinematography: Kevin Walker
Editing: Kevin Walker
Sound: Kevin Walker
Cast: Efthimios Asimakopoulos (village priest), Anna Hasapladaki (Kiria Anna), Marika Hatzinikolaou (Marika), Giorgos Hatzinikolaou (Giorgos), Irene Zahariadis (Irene), Barbara Walker (praying woman), Mihali Zahariadis (Antoni), Maz Zahariadis (woman in black), Giorgos Kandylis (Giorgos)

Statement of the directors:
THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD is a docufiction film excavating an all-to-real phenomenon – on the small island of Nisyros, bodies are frequently unearthed and moved to mausoleums to create space for future burials. The skeleton of the film is fiction, but its flesh and meat are documentary – archival footage, archival audio, improvised scenes, interviews, hidden camera recording, hidden microphone recording, and the aforementioned reenactments compose the majority of the film.
There are places in this world where people have a relationship with death which is, by necessity, fundamentally different from the sheltered experience of those of us living in heavily populated, globalised, cosmopolitan cities. This film is an attempt to reckon with that reality and explore the Nisyrian residents' profound familiarity with mortality – a familiarity most of us never have to confront.

Production:
Cosmic Salon
https://cosmicsalonfilms.com

World Sales:
Gargantua Film Distribution
https://www.gargantuafilm.it/