Daphné Patakia grew up in Brussels, Belgium. She used to do amateur theater with her parents and sister. That is why, after finishing high-school, she resolved to pursue it. She moved to Greece, went to the National Theatre School there and graduated in 2013. She has worked in theater for two years before appearing in films and made her screen debut in Yorgos Zois’ “Interruption”, which premiered in the “Orrizonti” sidebar of the 2015 Venice Film Festival. Daphné moved to Paris, but still works in Greece with which she wants to keep a link and where she wants to go back if there are interesting projects, like the ones she is doing now. But, according to her, Greece is not the land of opportunities for actors and many of them leave their home country.
Now, one of this year’s European Shooting Stars, Daphné Patakia talks to Tara Karajica about her acting career so far, Greek Cinema, being a Shooting Star and her next projects.
You have recently said that the means of making films in Greece are limited and yet they spark creativity among today’s Greek filmmakers. Can you elaborate on that?
Daphné Patakia.: Yes. For example, you want to do a film; you have a vision for a film, a sci-fi or something that needs a lot of money to be made, and you don’t have this money, but you’re very persistent and you want to do this because that’s your vision. You have to find a way to do it even if it’s not possible with the money, so that makes you extra creative and you find solutions and that gives, I guess, something, an extra value, to what happens because it’s not made in an obvious way. You’re creative in order to find solutions.
And, how do you see the current situation of the Greek film industry?
D.P.: Well, I love the films that are being made in Greece and there’s a bloom in the film industry. It’s a very small industry, with no infrastructure and all the films are made with a low budget or no budget. So, it’s difficult, but it has this added value because of all these difficulties and limitations.
Which Greek director would you like to work with next?
D.P.: Oh wow! There are so many! Of course, I love the films that Lanthimos makes and that Tsangari makes and there’s Koutras… I would love to work again with Zois who made Interruption, Syllas Tzoumerkas who did A Blast… There are so many!
I have the lead role there and it’s about a girl with green hair and rollers who is a teenager, has sex for the first time and discovers Athens.
Can you talk about Yorgos Zois’ Interruption, and how it links you back to theater?
D.P.: It was my first film, so it was great to do this transition kind of slowly because in the film, I play an actor who does an actual play onstage. So, it was a very soft transition for me to go into Cinema that way. Also, I think Interruption is a great film; very contemporary… It really involves things that happen right now and it’s very current. It was a very strange way to work because we did a lot of improvisation and we didn’t have a script. Ever. For the whole rehearsal. And then, the first day of shooting, he gave us half of the script. So, most of it was improvisation and we didn’t know what was going to happen at the end of the film. Everything happened the moment we were shooting. It’s a film on the gaze, on how you confuse reality with art, with fiction. That’s what happened to us actors because we really had to be there with all our senses because we didn’t know what was happening. So, it was real for us.
What are your expectations of the European Shooting Stars?
D.P.: It’s the first time I’ve been to Berlin in general and I’ve always liked the festival because it was the more political festival of all the big ones, I have the impression. Shooting Stars is a great opportunity to open in a European way and meet people from all over Europe, but I want to do that when I move to Paris. So, it’s a very good opportunity. I hope there’s going to be work in different languages. It’s great!
I understand your upcoming films include Constantine Giannaris’ Spring Awakening and Thread by Alexandros Voulgaris. But, is there anything else in the pipeline for you right now?
D.P.: Thread where I have a small role. And, now, I am going to shoot – I don’t know when exactly, actually, some time this year – a musical in Greece. I have the lead role there and it’s about a girl with green hair and rollers who is a teenager, has sex for the first time and discovers Athens. And, it all happens in one night.
In Greek?
D.P.: In Greek!
What is it called?
D.P.: Acrylic. And the music is going to be written by Alexandros Voulgaris who did Thread and who’s a great musician.
This interview was conducted at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival.
