Onassis Foundation participates in one of the most important international film festivals at the Lido in Venice, from August 27 to September 6, with two world premiere co-productions, the first feature film by Evi Kalogiropoulou, “Gorgonà” and the new short film by Charlie Kaufman, “How to Shoot a Ghost“, shot in Athens. Meanwhile, at Venice Immersive among the installations, 360° videos, virtual & mixed reality projects, and immersive worlds, Onassis ONX presents three digital works, the live performance and installation “Blur” by Craig Quintero and Phoebe Greenberg, the interactive virtual reality experience “Collective Body” by Sarah Silverblatt-Buser and a new version of the installation “Constantinopoliad” by Sister Sylvester and Nadah El Shazly.
“Gorgonà” by Evi Kalogiropoulou
“Following the award-winning Cannes film ‘On Xerxes’ Throne,’ OnassisCulture supports the director in her first feature film. ‘Gorgonà’ is a story set in a timeless dystopian future, in a patriarchal city-state plagued by violence and environmental pollution. Two women rise up and fight for their freedom and identity, turning themselves into symbols of resistance and transformation. Unapologetically political and gendered, glaringly unclassifiable, and bursting with energy and aesthetics, ‘Gorgonà’ could be a simple metaphysical drama, but it is something much more entertaining. In the words of the director, it is ‘a revenge film imbued with supernatural elements and feminist rage.'”
Evi Kalogiropoulou notes in her statement: “I have always been drawn to martial arts films and westerns. However, as a woman, I never felt included in their narratives and fantasized about action movies that would overturn the genre’s stereotypes and focus on the female experience. ‘Gorgonà’ is the fulfillment of that fantasy, my love letter to this kind of cinema. At its core, it is a story of empowerment through desire: the love between two women sparks inner transformation and confronts a world built to oppress them. In ‘Gorgonà,’ I draw a parallel between patriarchy and environmental destruction. The work is set in Eleusina, a polluted industrial town near Athens. Yet, this place once hosted the pagan Eleusinian Mysteries, which celebrated female power. This paradox inspired the world of ‘Gorgonà,’ as well as the myth of Medusa—the ultimate figure of female rage and transformation.
Evi Kalogiropoulou
“Gorgonà” comes to complete the filmography of Kalogiropoulou, whose films explore themes related to exclusion and inclusion, multicultural identity, the female presence in the context of ancient Greek mythology and post-apocalyptic environments. Produced by Neda Film, the film is a co-production of Onassis Culture, BLONDE, Blue Monday Productions and Kidam and distributed by World Sales Playtime. The film stars Melissanthi Mahut, AuroraMarion, Christos Loulis, Kostas Nikouli, Stavros Svengos, Errika Bijou, Niki Vakali, Xenia Dania, Erifili Kitzoglou, Myrto Kontoni, NaylaGougni, Iraklis Tsouzinof, Vassilis Michas and Tonia Sotiropoulou. The closing credits song is performed by Tamta in a Billie Kark arrangement.
“Gorgonà” will premiere on August 31, 2025, at the Venice Critics’ Week, which introduces directors from all over the world.
“How to Shoot a Ghost” by Charlie Kaufman
The acclaimed director of “Synecdoche, New York” and “Anomalisa,” as well as Oscar-winning screenwriter of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” Charlie Kaufman, filmed his new short film in Athens. “How to Shoot a Ghost” is the second part of a diptych—after “Jackals & Fireflies”—with both screenplays written by poet Eva HD. In the film, two ghosts who have just died wander the streets of Athens, drawn along by the pulsating urban fabric and the persistent echoes of History.
Regarding his choice of Athens as the film’s setting, Charlie Kaufman explains: “Athens is a city where the bones of History are constantly exposed—whether it’s the open wounds from the dictatorship of the 1970s or monuments that have stood tall since the plague wiped out so many citizens two thousand years ago. It is the ideal place to explore the tangled threads of past and present, and how the politics and desires of the dead continue to live within us.”
The film, produced by Monarch Kaleidoscope and with the support of Onassis Culture, will have its world premiere at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival and its Athenian premiere at the Onassis Stegi in 2026.
Venice Immersive
Onassis ONX For yet another year, it participates in the immersive category at the Venice Festival. After Cannes in May and Tribeca in June, ONX will be at the immersive island, Lazzaretto Vecchio, with three productions/co-productions. In the Competitive category, the works ‘Blur’ by Craig Quintero and Phoebe Greenberg and ‘Collective Body‘ by Sarah Silverblatt-Buser (ONX Resident) are presented, while out of competition, the work ‘Constantinopoliad‘ by Sister Sylvester (ONX Resident & Onassis AiR Fellow) and Nadah ElShazly participates
“Blur” by Craig Quintero and Phoebe Greenberg
Canada, Taipei, Greece / 50′ / installation, virtual reality, live performance
The myth of life and loss. “Blur”, an extended reality (XR) theatre production that unfolds a dreamscape, invites participants on a journey of reflection around mourning and immortality. Written and directed by Craig Quintero and Phoebe Greenberg, this mixed reality (MR) experience creates a new myth for the modern age, where science has changed how we think about life and death.
A co-production of PHI Centre (Canada), Riverbed Theatre Ltd. (Taiwan) and Onassis Culture, it seeks to immerse us in a world where the boundaries between the real and the virtual, the physical and the artificial, are collapsing.
Its world premiere took place in Taiwan in March 2025, aiming to subvert conventional narrative structures and draw viewers into a transformative narrative that tests their perceptions, empowering our connection to human existence.
“Collective Body” by Sarah Silverblatt-Buser
France, USA / 20′ / installation, virtual reality
What kind of stories does our body tell? The unique ways in which we move through the world as a new meeting point. Collective Body is an interactive virtual reality experience that encourages us to reconnect with ourselves and each other through movement. Rather than distancing us from reality, the experience utilizes virtual reality to ground us together in the physical world, while creating a new understanding of who we are as different individuals within a collective whole. With the help of narration and interactive music, participants engage in improvised free movement: their movements are transformed into expressive visual representations, creating personalized avatars that evolve throughout the installation.
Sarah Silverblatt-Buser reports: “The body’s ability to tell stories and perceive the world is at the core of my work. […] Through dance, I have learned that my body can be a ‘mobile banquet’ – full of endless discoveries and silent stories waiting to be shared. This curiosity about the wisdom of the body defines my artistic research, and through my work I seek to highlight the body’s intuition and its virtuosic abilities to interact with the world. To give meaning to the world around it.””Constantinopoliad” by Sister Sylvester and Nadah El Shazly
United Kingdom, Greece / 55′ / immersive installation
From lost and missing archives through time to ghosts—both erotic and historical—who visit the mature Cavafy in his poems. A three-dimensional handmade book, meant to be read collectively by the audience within a sound installation. It is a response to the archive of the poet Constantine Cavafy, inspired by the blank and torn pages of “Constantinopoliad, an epic”—the diary begun by the young Cavafy when he and his family fled from Alexandria to Constantinople.
The version of the “Constantinopoliad” installation is a co-production by Onassis ONX. It is a commission by the Onassis Foundation as part of the “Archive of Desire” festival in New York (April 2023), supported by Onassis AiR and with the backing of the Cavafy Archive in Athens. A performance version was also presented at the Onassis Library in November 2023.
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