Xenia (2014)

Strangers in their own birthplace, 16-year-old Danny and 18-year-old Odysseus cross the entire country in search of their Greek father, after their Albanian mother passes away.

Director:

Panos H. Koutras

Writers:

Panos H. Koutras, Panagiotis Evangelidis

Stars:

Kostas Nikouli, Nikos Gelia, Yannis Stankoglou

10 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kostas Nikouli	...	Dany
Nikos Gelia	...	Odysseas (as Nikos Gkelia)
Yannis Stankoglou	...	Lefteris (as Giannis Stankoglou)
Marisha Triantafyllidou	...	Vivi (as Marissa Triantafyllidou)
Romanna Lobach	...	Maria-Sonia (as Romana Lompats)
Aggelos Papadimitriou	...	Tasos
Mohamed Alhanini	...	Achmat
Ioulios Tziatas	...	Moustafa
Electra Leda Koutra	...	Dikigoros (Antigone, Ody's lawyer) (as Electra-Leda Koutra)
Konstantinos Georgopoulos	...	Stefanos
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Petros Chytiris	...	Ricardo, Patty Pravo's Chauffeur
Dido	...	Dido
Maria Laina	...	Junkie Ballerina
Vali Mavridi	...	Floor Manager
Patty Pravo	...	Patty Pravo

Storyline

Strangers in their own birthplace, 16-year-old Danny and 18-year-old Odysseus cross the entire country in search of their Greek father, after their Albanian mother passes away. Determined to force him to acknowledge paternity, little do they know that the road to the much-coveted Greek citizenship is paved with ghosts from the past, adult savagery and a dream that needs to come true, no matter what. Reaching the end of this initiatory journey they eventually come of age even if Greece refuses to follow.

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Plot Keywords:

male frontal nudity | greece | gay | gay kiss | male nudity | 

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Taglines:

A New Greek Odyssey

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Greece France Belgium

Language:

Greek Albanian Italian

Release Date:

18 June 2014 (France)

Also Known As:

Ксения

Filming Locations:

Kozani, Greece

Box Office

Budget:

EUR1,500 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$358, 11 October 2015

Gross USA:

$3,181

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$162,556

Company Credits

Production Co:

100% Synthetic Films, Wrong Men, Movie Partners In Motion Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Among the CD that Odysseas (Ody) is searching in the closet at the rooftop are Stereo Nova - Discolata (1993) and Trypes - Mesa Sth Nyxta ton Allon (1999).

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Connections

References Sailor Moon (1995)

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Soundtracks

Bambola
Written by Franco Migliacci, Piero Pintucci and Ruggero Cini
Sung by Patty Pravo
(1968)

User Reviews

Winner Best Film Award - Hellenic Film Institute

The movie «Xenia» (with the accent on the i, but I will not tell you what it is in the story) is more Aristotelian than other Greek adventures of recent vision, with a "secure structure" built on cause and effect, and it is also more sentimental, more melo-Greekly passionate... And very gay in tone (by courtesy of director Panos Koutras), although no sexual orientation is the core of the plot. It has to do with two brothers born in Crete, children of an Albanian woman who has just died and a Greek man who abandoned them. Suddenly the younger one realizes that his brother and he were not recognized, they have no documents, they are strangers in their own land, so out they go in search of their (s.o.b.) father, while some dreams are sought after and a maturing process leads them to their goals. Excellently played by the two leading actors, Kostas Nikouli and Nikos Gelia, the film combines the harsh realities of xenophobia and privation with beautiful scenes, like a brief night cruise by boat, while the boys sleep on board and on the shore the vessel is escorted by the entities in their fantasies during childhood, a period signed by abuse (David Lynch would applaud) and some surprises like Dido, the rabbit. «Xenia» won the Hellenic Film Academy awards for Best Motion Picture, Direction, Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Editing and Costumes; and the Best Film Award at the festivals of Gijón and Chicago.