Ask yourself: “If I lost the only thing that ever gave my life meaning, what would I do to get it back?” WITHOUT BORDERS, a multi-generational film from director Nick Gaitatjis, will uniquely answer that question.
Picture yourself in a Friday night movie theatre. You know nothing about the film in advance. A Cadillac races across a desert road as a police car gives chase. Plato, the getaway car driver, screeches to a halt and gets out of the car. He thrusts his arms in the air, begins a Greek Dance, but then pulls out a pistol in front of guns-drawn policemen. No questions asked; Plato lies dead on the ground.
Is the movie about Plato or the two people inside the Cadillac? Thanasis, played by Yorgo Voyagis (1988 TV mini-series THE BOURNE IDENTITY), a compassionate cotton candy vendor who leads a simple, lonely life in an eclectic Athens neighborhood clings to young Milla in fear. Within the framework of a police interrogation and narrative flashbacks, Thanasis explains how he came to have lost custody of young Milla and what he had to do to get her back. As the plot unfolds, Thanasis seeks help from Plato, his eccentric, gambling, drug-dealing cousin and is ultimately forced to make a decision that will pit him against international law enforcement and compromise his values. Will Thanasis lose the only family that’s ever brought him joy?
Partially filmed in New Mexico, with a stellar cast including Academy-Award nominee Seymour Cassel, WITHOUT BORDERS is a Los Angeles Greek Film Festival Audience Award winner.
In an election year, this cross-cultural film is sure to strike a clear political note with the hot-button immigration issue. However, according to Santa Fe Film board member Alex Pattakos, WITHOUT BORDERS rises above the rhetoric: “A love story at heart, WITHOUT BORDERS reflects a unique, humanistic and apolitical perspective on the impact living apart has on families.” Pattakos, inspired by the key characters because they reflect his heritage, hopes that audiences will come away with a better appreciation for the very human need of finding meaning in their lives.
The Santa Fe Film Festival invites you to join Director Nick Gaitatjis, Producer Sandra Staggs, Editor Matthew Cassel, and cast members for a question and answer session and reception after the film’s screening at the New Mexico History Museum, Friday, October 5, 2012. Tickets are $30 and include the film, reception and Greek and Mexican inspired appetizers provided by event sponsor Leonardo Razatos of Plaza Cafe Southside. For more information, see https://santafefilmfestival.com/index.
