Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria

Greece, 2013, 98mins (Drama)

Director Yorgos Servetas

"A heck of a film..." The Huffington Post

Yorgos Servetas' Standing Aside, Watching might be Greek tragedy but it also borrows beautifully from another genre – that of the Hollywood Western – with a heroine Indiewire describes as "having more cojones than a dozen Gary Coopers."

An 'outsider' returning to her hometown, Antigone (Marina Symeou) is a failed 30-something actress now looking to take a job as an English teacher. She reconnects with old friends and embarks on a relationship with the younger Nikos (Yorgos Kafetzopoulos) but her plan to return to the simpler village life she once knew comes undone. The town's prejudices, the unmistakable undercurrent of sickening violence and the shifting balance of power between men and women in austerity-era Greece plays catastrophically on her conscience.

"The movie grabs you by the neck, Symeou is a wonder, and Servetas knows exactly what to do with both." Indiewire

Written by: Yorgos Servetas

Produced by: Fenia Cossovitsa, Konstantinos Kontovrakis

Cast: Marina Symeou, Nikos Yorgakis, Yorgos Kafetzopoulous, Marianthi Pantelopoulou, Kostas Siradakis, Yorgos Ziovas

About the Director:

Born in Athens in 1978, Yorgos Servetas studied computer engineering and informatics before experimentation with photography led him to filmmaking at the Stavrakos Film School in Athens. In-between directing films, Yorgos still enjoys teaching information technology to children in rural Greek schools. Standing Aside, Watching is his second feature, following The Way Things Are Determined (2008).

Greek Synopsis:

Η Αντιγόνη επιστρέφει στη γενέτειρά της και πιάνει δουλειά σε φροντιστήριο και προσπαθεί να ξαναστήσει τη ζωή της, όμως η γεμάτη διαφθορά και υπόγεια βία καθημερινότητα αποδεικνύεται ασφυκτική.