Blossom

Dedicated to filmmaker Michael Cacoyannis, Blossom is a short film that celebrates the easy relationship between theatre and film. Written by Alexandros Moustas and Achilles Tsoutsis (with the latter directing), this 8-minute short film is all about being inspired by both art forms. 

Vasilis Prekas plays Michael, a lawyer who harbours a silent passion for becoming a film director. After attending a play and a chance encounter with actress Elle (Zoe Theodoropoulou), whom he helps with some contract issues, Michael feels inspired to go and make his movie. Whilst he feels anxious about the prospect, Elle consoles Micheal by telling him to dance if he “digs it” - just get out there and dance. 

Blossom is a short film told with warmth and love for both theatre and film. There is a respectful nature to the characters and how they interact. The chemistry between Elle and Michael is excellent, even if we only get a short time with both characters, with the actors delivering a memorable sequence with a stunning backdrop during one particular scene. 

There is some nice character development and points for the audience to get a deeper understanding placed within the movie. We get to see Michael’s humdrum office life, and Elle refers to her discontent about needing to work in a cafe in order to support her theatre career, and these are essential in building a worthwhile connection with the viewer, 

Tsoutsis shows confidence in letting scenes breathe when they need to, or utilising techniques such as montage to help tell this compact tale. By delivering a film about inspiration and following your dreams with such short but sharp tenacity, it’s an impressive piece that will likely connect with a broad audience. That’s not to say it couldn’t have been expanded, there was definitely scope to further this story and to delve deeper into each character’s history and future, but that would perhaps diminish the impact of the film’s message about how such a small encounter could make such a large difference to someone’s life.