ON THE ROAD TO ANTIGONE
Ο ΔΡΟΜΟΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΙΝ ΑΝΤΙΓΟΝΗ

Oksana Mysina on

On the Road to Antigone

Antigone has always been my Northern Star,

my fellow traveller.

Tossed and rocked by every tempest

Earth could throw at my battered, leaking skiff,

I came to rest in the heart of Greek mythology,

the island of Crete,

where, in the ancient city of Kydonia,

now known as Chania,

my husband and I discovered our sanctuary. 

Here we discovered new friends. 

For five days on end we paid each other visits,

carrying one question on our lips:

“What can you tell the world about Antigone?”

​

These words scroll up the screen at the beginning of On the Road to Antigone, the film I made with a theater company organized on Crete by Ketty Koraka, a brilliant actress, playwright and director. Our friendship gave rise to this experimental cinematic exercise. In response to my request that all the actresses share with me their thoughts about Antigone, each responded in her own way, offering her own tale, her own personal monologue. 

A couple of stray children and grandchildren tagged along with their mothers, aunts, grandmothers and neighbors for the film shoots. 

And so, in the course of five days of roaming about the city of Chania with a white chair in tow, we shot everything you see in this film. 

I am deeply grateful to each and every one of our heroines and heroes. They are incredibly talented actors, and fascinating individuals. Their selflessness, openness and endless generosity set me on the road to film directing. I will forever remain in their Debt!