Few people know or suspect how difficult it is to create a feature-length animated film. To give an idea of ​​the rarity, the first film of its kind (and duration) in the history of Greek cinema is being released today. And the inauguration is being held by… Karagiozis. “Karagiosis: The Movie” in fact, like the name of the film created by the team of the production company White Fox. For the first time, the beloved shadow theater hero enters a three-dimensional environment, gaining unprecedented depth of field and a modern character, while maintaining his identity, dating back to two centuries of tradition.

“The idea was to adapt Karagiozis in a 3D world and at the same time develop his environment in a way that we haven’t seen before but can imagine. For this last one, we drew inspiration from the Epirus region and in particular from 19th century Ioannina, but this does not mean that the action takes place in this era. But there is this aesthetic, which is also an indirect historical reference, since the first steps of the Greek Karagiozis can be found in this particular region and period,” says Athos Danellis, one of the most prominent contemporary Karagioz players and the one who signs the script, historical editing and the majority of the voices in the film.

The plot is based on the classic fairy tale Karagiozi Grammar, where the hero gets a job as a village secretary, with great pleasure, but not quite typical qualities for this position. The premise was fleshed out along the way, but the real challenge here was creating the whole world, practically from scratch. For this, during the period of self-isolation, a group of Greeks, mostly animators, from Attica, Patras, Katerinis, Aulis, Ioannina and other places worked hard. Their mission was to digitally recreate simple houses, mansions, cliffs, bridges, flora and fauna of the mainland, which became the birthplace of the hero.

Special motion capture suits came from America so that the movements of the actors could realistically bring 3D models to life on the computer.

Then there are people. Special motion-capture suits came from America so that the actors’ movements – 1,200 different facial-only movements – could realistically bring 3D models to life on the computer. “People who were involved in the technological part, to some extent, were also brought up through it. Of course, they have always worked with respect for the shadow theater and its characters, so that the viewer does not see anything extraneous. It’s just another face of the same art,” says Mr. Danellis.

However, who is Karagiozis (albeit modern) addressing in the age of multiple screens and Marvel? “In any case, shadow theater is a family spectacle for all ages. Has great flexibility. Space and time have great elasticity and always exist in the environment of surrealism, which corresponds to the logic of cartoons. In addition, the Karagiozo have always been open to change, because they appeal to the general public and are obliged to listen to it. Let’s not forget that James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, the Beatles and various modern personalities have passed through the shadow theater.

We see one such, relevant in its own way, Karagiozis in the film. Next to him are all the famous heroes: his wife Aglaya, Hatziavatis, Barba-Giorgos, Nyonios, Morfonios, Kolletirias… Eighteen main and fifty minor characters come to life, of course, the imagination that classical shadow theater requires from the viewer, here it is fatally limited . “The classic Karagiozis manages to take viewers on a journey because it works like a fairy tale. For 15-20 years we have been experiencing a new “golden age” of shadow theater. Fine young professionals aged 18-25 have entered our art, followed by the public. If now there is an additional way to talk to them in their language, for example, in the movies, so much the better.