Synopsis
When he was four years old, Maria Callas took him into her arms and danced with him. At twenty, long after she had ‘departed,’ he began to discover her work and grew fascinated by her. He never went on holiday; every drachma and euro he made, he set aside to buy recordings, books, photos, posters and programmes related to her, and money was always short.
Alongside his life, as he worked two jobs to make ends meet, with his misfortunes, romantic disappointments, jealous friends, an accident that led to ten surgeries and a disability, his collection grew. Haunted by the two women in his life — his mother who died too young and the Diva, a constant reference and reverence for him — he grew and found fulfilment along with his collection. Now, he is serene, dreaming of the afternoon when his mother will knock on his door and they will share a coffee together. He would sacrifice everything for that moment, even his collection.
Maria Callas was the original operatic diva. A hundred years after her birth, this personal documentary explores the obsessive world of one of her most dedicated collectors.
Panayotis Evangelidis
Panayotis Evangelidis is a writer and works in cinema as a director, cameraman and scriptwriter. He has published four novels and made several documentaries. His films are anthropocentric portraits of marginal — mainly queer — beings. He works without a film crew, doing camera, production and direction alone, to allow closeness and intimacy with his characters. He was awarded an Honorary Golden Alexander at the 2024 Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival for his lifetime contribution to cinema.
