Vasia Markides : Artist & Filmmaker

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Ripples

This video is comprised of snippets of footage shot almost entirely on my phone over the course of the past two years. Using immediately available technology as the medium for escape, it depicts a yearning for transcendance and the dizzying confines of the big city, embodied in the interplay between water and light. Wanderlust is expressed through glimpses of Patagonia, Portugal, Maine, Utah, and New York City, providing an exodus from the city and the self.

(Ripples will screening at the International Motion Festival Cyprus on March 22-24, 2013)

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Trailer for "Beneath the Olive Tree"

I recently finished editing the trailer for Beneath the Olive Tree, formerly known as Three Candles, a documentary about the innocent women exiled to brutal concentration camps during the Greek civil war. Seven journals found buried beneath a tree on Trikeri island now tell their stories almost seven decades later.

Synopsis:

Narrated by Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis, ‘Beneath the Olive Tree’ depicts the story of Greek women and girls exiled to concentration camps on the island of Trikeri during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949). Decades after their imprisonment, seven buried journals, written in secret by the women of Trikeri during their imprisonment, were unearthed from under a tree. The journals, filled with stories and drawings, give new insight into the women and girls daily life on the island.

Longer Synopsis:

During the years 1946-1949 following WWII, a Civil War was well under way in Greece.The country’s war was a polarized political struggle between the Greek Governmental Army and the Democratic Army. Those involved with the Democratic Army, even by mere association, were accused of being ‘anti-patriots’ and enemies of the State. Upon their capture they were sent to isolated islands that were officially declared unfit for human habitation, Makronisos, Yaros, and Trikeri to name a few.

These islands were concentration camps, under the disguise of rehabilitation centers, designed to horrifically torture and humiliate prisoners who stood up for what they believed and refused to sign the Declaration of Repentance, deloseis metanoias, so they can once again become the men, women and children of Greece.

Although there is documentation about the atrocities that occurred to the men during that period, an important part of that history involved women of all ages and backgrounds. There is very little documentation of what took place on Trikeri and the other islands where women were exiled. To date, there is no mention in Greek textbooks about this dark period or the government’s role in these historical events.

Years later, after the camps were phased out, seven sole surviving notebooks written by the women of Trikeri in secrecy and buried under a tree during their imprisonment, have surfaced to speak the truth about their suffering and how they managed to survive and keep their spirit unbroken. The women’s own voices bring to light a part of history the Greek government continues to repress.

To learn more, visit:

http://www.oramapictures.info

Monday, November 28, 2011

Paint and Such

Most recent commission; oil on canvas; 28"x 36"

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Adam Niklewicz. The Round Table

http://www.adamniklewicz.com/

http://www.blackandwhiteartgallery.com/exhibitions.html

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

"Hidden in the Sand" to represent Cyprus in Doc Europa III on June 17-19, 2011

Hidden in the Sand was selected as the Cyprus representative in the Doc Europa III festival this year in Cascais and Porto, Portugal. They are covering my expenses to attend the screening and I'm still recovering from the shock. Europe does it best, it appears.