Plato’s Academy

by Filippos Tsitos

Stavros is a selfish, simple minded, nationalistic Athenian, who leads a parasitic life, in a xenophobic environment – until one day, he gets to know, that he’s not Greek, but Albanian.

Germany / Greek 2009, 103 min.

Athens, Plato’s Academy district. A small, quiet junction with three tobacco stores and a dog.
Stavros owns one of the stores. His wife has left him and refuses to come back; his mother has already had a stroke and he must take care of her 24/7.

The favourite hobby of the three tobacconists is counting the Chinese, who are setting up their shop across the street. It is an everlasting hobby because the Chinese appear to multiply by the day. They only stop counting if an Albanian goes past them. Then, they bet on whether the dog will bark at the Albanian or not. This is their second favourite hobby. That is how they spend their life, idly and merrily, watching life go by, outside their stores.

However, Stavros is constantly worried. He is inexplicably unhappy. At night, he suffers from insomnia, but he is not able to pinpoint what is wrong with himself. Until one day, an Albanian, who goes past the three men (and gets barked at by the dog), recognises Stavros’s mother as his own long-lost mother.

International Premiere:

13.08.2009, 62th Locarno Film Festival

Festivals / Awards (selection):

Locarno IFF, 2009
– Leopard for the Best Actor
–Eucumenical Jury Prize
–Youth Jury Prize

Max Ophüls Preis, 2010
–Film Music Award

nominiert für den LUX-Preis, 2010

Tirana International Film Festival, 2009

LA Greek Film Festival, 2010

Venice Film Festival, 2010