PECCADILLO PICTURES
THE SUMMER WITH CARMEN
(Greece/ 2023/106 mins)
DIRECTED BY ZACHARIAS MAVROEIDIS
Theatrical release date: 28th February 2025
Stars: Yorgos Tsiantoulas; Andreas Lampropoulos
A sexy, sun-drenched romp with an entertaining, hunky cast at its core celebrating the bonds of queer platonic friendship, and a very cute dog.
While enjoying a day soaking up the sun at Athens’ gay beach, best friends Demos and Nikitas brainstorm ideas for a screenplay. Recalling the lively events of the summer where Demos reluctantly broke up with his ex, Panos, and somehow gained a dog named Carmen. The pair discuss how they can turn Demos’ encounters into a ‘hero’s journey’.
Sexy and charming, Zacharias Mavroeidis’ THE SUMMER WITH CARMEN is a celebration of gay friendships and a nod to first-time filmmaking.
LONG SYNOPSIS
The Summer with Carmen is the debut film from director Zacharias Mavroeidis. It follows two gay
best friends, Demos (Yorgos Tsiantoulas) and Nikitas (Andreas Labropoulos), as they decide to
collaborate on a new film project inspired by a pivotal summer they shared two years prior.
That summer, Demos was going through a painful breakup with his boyfriend of four years, Panos
(Nikolaos Mihas), after Panos impulsively got a dog named Carmen. As Demos and Nikitas revisit
writing about those events, the film fluidly moves between time periods, taking a meta approach in
showing their creative process unfold.
The story explores themes of masculinity, sexuality, and the insecurities and compromises in
pursuing romantic relationships. With a template of catharsis through creativity, the two friends gain
new perspectives on their past experience and fluctuating understanding of each other.
While a comedy at its core, the film has an authentic charm in its deliberations on how gay men
discern what they truly want versus societal expectations. It provides a refreshing portrayal of the
complexities in the platonic yet sustaining bonds between gay male friends, and their dogs.
CAST AND CREW CREDITS
CAST
Demosthenes – Yorgos Tsiantoulas
Nikitas – Andreas Lampropoulos
Panos – Nikolas Mihas
Kaiti – Roubini Vasilakopoulou
Thymios – Vasilis Tsigristaris
Carmen – Nala the chihuahua
CREW
Director – Zacharias Mavroeidis
Screenplay – Zacharias Mavroeidis & Xenofon Chalatsis
Producer – Ioanna Bolomyti (Atalante S.A.)
Associate Producer – Lina Yannopoulou (Argonauts S.A.)
Cinematography – Theodoros Mihopoulos Gfc
Editing – Livia Neroutsopoulou
Composer – Ted Regklis
Production Design – Aliki Kouvaka
Sound Design – Stefanos Efthymiou
1st Assistant Director – Dafni Kiriakidou
Production Manager – Georgia Demestiha
Production Company – Atalante Productions S.A.
Co-produced by Argonauts Productions S.A., ERT S.A., Athens Productions S.A., Zacharias Mavroeidis
With the financial support of the Greek Film Centre
With the support of the Greek Cash Rebate Program by The National Centre Of Audiovisual Media
And Communication (EKOME) CREW C
DIRECTORS STATEMENT
THE SUMMER WITH CARMEN is an unapologetically out-and-proud comedy that spotlights the
friendships between gay men, a complex and multifaceted type of relationship that rarely holds the
leading part in movies.
Demosthenes and Nikitas, the two queer bros, spend a day at Limanakia rocky beach at the south of
Athens, a landmark for the LGBTQ community of the Greek capital. Surrounded by gay men, naked
or in swimming suits, sunbathing or cruising for casual sex, the two friends recall the events of a
recent summer hoping to turn them into Nikitas’ feature debut screenplay. Their day-long debate is
intertwined with the action at the amphitheatrical rocks: friendly chats, blow-jobs, DIY fashion
shows, a bit of Greek rebetiko music, a joint.
This animated backdrop pays justice to cruising places, which are to the LGBTQ community way
more than just a hook-up place. They are also a safe space where one can socialize, have fun or even
write a script for a feature film.
The original soundtrack of the film creates a bridge between baroque music and rebetiko, the
popular Greek music genre that is symbolized by the bouzouki instrument. The “magic glue” is the
timbre of the bouzouki which is surprisingly similar to that of baroque harpsichord. The two
instruments play alongside in baroque style compositions, “queering” the identities both of
flamboyant, bourgeois baroque music and down to earth, popular and macho rebetiko. This
unorthodox blend is meant as an allegory of the social blending that occurs in places like Limanakia.
The Summer With Carmen has a film within a film structure. The narrative goes back and forth from
present day at the beach to the events of the summer with Carmen, two years ago, that all take
place at downtown Athens. The exterior scenes in the past highlight the voluminous terrain of
Athens, with all the action set in outdoor stairs, at the perimeter of the numerous hills of the city.
While in present time the characters run up and down the rocky slopes of the beach, in the past they
walk up and down the stairs of the city centre. This climbing rhyme abstractly unites the two times
of the narrative, along with the common struggles the characters face in past and present.
The root of Demostenes’ issues seems to be the little love he received from his camp mother Kate. In
this frame, Carmen functions as a capital of love: Whoever needs love the most, gets the dog.
Demosthenes often mimics Kate’s attitude when dealing with Nikitas. This mimesis highlights the
family side of their friendship, Demosthenes being the mother and Nikitas the daughter.
The screenplay the two friends are writing is eagerly awaited by Jean-Sebastian, a French producer
looking to shoot a queer, light hearted, low budget film in Athens. As the two work on turning the
events of the summer into Acts and Plot Points, they simultaneously examine dramaturgical ideas
that would make the story fit Jean-Sebastian’s prerequisites. Ideas that the audience sees in action
in the flash-backs to the summer with Carmen. For example, if having a homophobic, old man in the
script – Demosthenes’ sick dad, is not queer and light hearted, why not try to keep him out of
frame? And so it is. We never really see this sick old man, although he is a catalyst in the unfolding of
the events.
Following their writing brainstorm, the film gives the audience an inside look at the process of
scriptwriting while constantly playing on the self-consciousness of the narrative. By the end of the
movie, the audience realizes that The Summer With Carmen actually narrates the journey of its own
creation, much like the final twist in Spike Jonze’s 2002 Adaptation. Struggling to turn real life into
fiction, the two friends arrive to conflicting interpretations of Demosthenes’ actions. This points to
the theme of the movie, that being identity and more specifically the futility of knowing thyself.
Truth be told, the wise astrologist was right: self-knowledge is nothing but a convenient self-
deception.
The idea for the film was inspired by real events that occurred in the life of my best friend and co-
writer Xenofondas Chalatsis. Any resemblances with the story are far from coincidental. Just like
Nikitas and Demosthenes, we also struggled to turn real life into fiction. Many of our creative
conflicts turned into scenes in the screenplay but, most important, just like Nikitas and
Demosthenes, through the writing of the script we turned a page in our long lasting friendship.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Zacharias Mavroeidis studied architecture in Thessaloniki, theatre in Madrid, scriptwriting in Cuba
and filmmaking in Athens. He is a Berlinale and Sarajevo Talents alumni. His debut feature, THE
GUIDE, screened in Thessaloniki IFF and in LGBTQ film festivals around the world. His sophomore
feature, DEFUNCT, won the Young Jury and the Audience Award in the International Competition of
Thessaloniki IFF and the Best Film Award in KINENOVA IFF 2020. He is currently participating in
Cinekid Script Lab, developing his first novel, NINE LIVES LEFT, as a feature animation film for young
audiences. Since 2022, he serves as General Secretary at the BoD of the Greek Film Academy. He
wrote the script of THE SUMMER WITH CARMEN together with first-time writer and best friend
Xenofon Chalatsis. The film won the first prize in Agora-Works In Progress of Thessaloniki IFF 2022.