Kytherian End of Year News!
Dear Friends of Kythera,
it's been over a year since I last sent a newsletter - sorry to all who have missed regular reports from Kythera. I've been over-occupied with Kytherian film projects, daily family life and my day job, but I still keep a close eye on the Kythera-family.net site. And although I'm in the middle of editing my new Kytherian feature film, An Island Named Desire, and also preparing 3 Kytherian short films to next year's Tropfest Film Festival in Sydney (deadline 11. January 2018!), I've taken these few minutes on Christmas Day to write to you all.
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The Summer on Kythera was blighted by a major fire on Kythera which scorched about one-fifth of the entire island. Thankfully no-one was injured but there was some damage to property. Those brave souls who tirelessly fought the fire have earned much praise from all of us who love the island. If you missed my reports on facebook here are a few pictures.
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CONDOLENCES
Two very sad deaths occurred on the island this year within our circle of friends. Manolis Pavlakis of Potamos, who had recently turned 99 years old, died in October. I was lucky enough to have been given the honour of working with him in the new film and his wit and charm and great backgammon skills impressed us all. He was a gentleman in all senses of the word.
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Above, the charismatic Manoli Pavlakis of Potamos, who passed away in October of this year. He could be found almost very morning at the Astikon Café entertaining his friends and winning more often than not at backgammon.
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The second great loss in our circle was Dimitri Apiranthetis, legendary chef at the Neos Kosmos restaurant at the second Agia Pelagia beach of the same name. He and his wonderful wife Anna cooked up some of the finest food on the island for thousands of guests each Summer, and Dimitri's skills – especially his preparation and cooking of meat – were famous not only on Kythera but in New York as well, where he and Anna ran the premiere meat supply business to the finest restaurants for many years. Dimitri died only a few days ago and will be sadly missed by all who knew him.
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Dimitri Apiranthetis, master chef at the Neos Kosmos restaurant, died in December and will be sorely missed by all who knew his charm and generosity and amazing cooking skills.
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AN ISLAND NAMED DESIRE
Most of you are already aware of the feature film I am producing which we shot this year. Although we planned to film it all in July, the death of my father in Australia in the middle of that month, and the the unavailability of many of the actors after my return to Greece meant that the filming wasn't completed until late October. Since then my editing assistants and I have been steadily working through the scenes and we are on track to have the film completed by March, which is just in time for the Cannes Film Festival deadline. Shot on a shoe-string budget, we are still confident that we can produce a movie worthy of our wonderful island. You can see some pictures and a trailer at www.islandnameddesire.com and even become a benefactor to assist us in getting to Cannes without having to sleep under bridges when we get there...
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The protagonists Poppy and Georgos Coroneos of Karavas are back from Australia in An Island Named Desire. With chauffeur and limousine and more money than they know how to spend...
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Back from the first film Vasilis from Petrouni takes Elpida down to the rocky valley below Paliohora. Vassilis' character, as opposed to Poppy and Georgos, is in real financial straights and has to deal with recalcitrant goats, robotic donkeys and the occasional assassin to make ends meet.
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That is all I have time for now. Don't forget to visit www.kythera-family.net and see the wonderful photographs, history and other submissions which members of our community have posted, and which you can add to at any time to help preserve your Kytherian family history for generations to come and share with others at the same time. Special thanks to the Kytherian Association of Australia in Sydney for their continued support and the invaluable work they do to keep the Kytherian hearts warm in the Diaspora.
Best regards from Christmas in Berlin,
James Prineas
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By the way, if you'd like to keep up with the weather on Kythera,
the METEO SITE is probably the most accurate.
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The Kytherian World Heritage Fund presents:
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There are dozens of great Kythera-related titles on
sale from the Kytherian World Heritage Fund. All make
the perfect Christmas present!
Just download their ORDER FORM.
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Rent or purchase Kythera mon Amour online here:
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Highlights of Kythera from the Air is available for rent or purchase here:
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