NEW YORK – Anastasia Manou, the Chief Executive Officer of White-Fox SA, spoke with The National Herald about producing ‘Karagiozis: The Movie’ ahead of the September 15 screening at the Museum of the Moving Image, presented by the Hellenic Film Society USA.
TNH: How did you become involved in the Karagiozis film project?
Anastasia Manou: From the very beginning of White-Fox SA back in 2005, our main goal and desire was to create meaningful and engaging audiovisual content. We’ve had the desire to create the first Greek animation film for years. A desire that, from 2018, began to transform into a plan, and the plan into action. For six months, we were looking for our main hero and in 2019 we ended up with Karagiozis, the ultimate exponent of Greek folklore and for almost two centuries the symbol of the timeless Greek. Optimistic, cheerful, resourceful, kind-hearted, a restless spirit that does not settle for any authority and any social role. In his hump, which symbolizes all mankind’s suffering, lay all hopes and dreams of the Greek people.
What needed to be done next was choose the best story for a 74-minutes movie. Among many, we chose ‘Karagiozis the Grammarian,’ a story that we thought could resonate best, given that in our multinational world more than ever, people from different backgrounds and cultures have the need to communicate. In our story, this need meets the daily search for a minimum daily wage by the resourceful Karagiozis who manages to convince the boss and takes the job.
The next challenge had to do with the animation style and the quality of the CGIs, as our goal was an entertaining film for the whole family with a hero and a spectacle that connects tradition with high-end technology in the most innovative way. Βecause Karagiozis is the protagonist of the shadow theatre, we wanted the animation to have a kinesthetic reference to its traditional form. If we were creating it today, there would be some variation in that part. The visualization difficulties of the heroes were manifold, but the creative opportunities were just as many, so optimism overcame realism and we moved on with the project, using the systematic advice of the well-known puppeteer Athos Danelis, also studying the depictions of Karagiozis and the main characters of his plays during the last 100 years.
TNH: What first drew you to the project?
AM: Animation is a genre we love, we have distributed and localized for 20 years, and also have been studying and using to create compelling audiovisual cultural, educational, and entertainment content that resonates emotionally to create connections that last, integrating technology and AI, following all new trends and international practices.
The fact that Karagiozis is the ultimate Greek folklore hero and, for almost two centuries the symbol of the timeless Greek, made him the perfect choice for the 3D animation movie and the 2D animation series that aired on Cosmote TV, close to the movie’s release, at end of 2022, early 2023.
TNH: Were you a fan of the famous fictional character?
AM: I have to admit that I was not very familiar with him, in fact, while we were producing the movie, I have watched more shadow theatrical plays than in any other time of my life. Who isn’t a fan of Karagiozis? Karagiozis is a poor hunchbacked Greek, with ragged and patched clothes and bare feet, living in a poor cottage with his wife Aglaia and his three sons, always trying to find ways to meet his family’s needs.
Karagiozis may lack in heroic qualities, but he more than makes up for with his wit, inquisitiveness, lack of expectation, joyfulness and kindness. And that is why Karagiozis is still very much alive today in a world of AI, virtual reality, Alexa and Siri.
TNH: What can audiences look forward to in this film?
AM: Clever dialogues, hilarious jokes, lively characters, Greek music and traditional dances. All the above-mentioned embody the world of Karagiozis making it impossible for the viewer not to find relevance with the story. And behind the lines of the story lies a message that is delivered as if in whispers: the importance of education for every child. The audiences that already have watched the movie in Greece, Australia, London, and the USA, audiences of all ages, were really enthusiastic and we knew that the movie delivered because you could hear people laughing during the screenings with his witty jokes.
TNH: Do you see this as an ongoing series?
AM: After the 2D TV series and the 3D movie that were really well received by the audience, we are open to produce more animation movies with our favorite hero, Karagiozis. After all, with appeal across multiple age groups and having continued to deliver extraordinary results (in terms of box office earnings and admissions) over the years, animation movies are appreciated and enjoyed by children and older audiences as well. Given that our company has an autonomous research and development department that conduct surveys to see what the audiences need, we are open to any kind of challenge that comes.
TNH: What are you working on next?
AM: We are in the process of developing the second and third season of ‘Trianglefish in Sea Adventures,’ a TV series based on the beloved children’s hero that Vaggelis Iliopoulos created and has been loved in books and plays. The first season was a success on ANT1+ and now we are in discussions for the next season, along with other TV productions we are preparing (both creating original content and dubbing foreign TV series for educational and entertainment purposes for linear and cable TV).
Apart from the entertainment animation, our company White-Fox SA also specializes in documentaries and educational and scientific content, with the use of holograms, 3D mapping projections, dome projections, VR and AR short films. We have ongoing collaboration with Educational Institutions, Government Organizations, and Cultural and Spiritual Entities. Our latest project is a 15-minute VR short film regarding the life of St. John the Russian which is a coproduction with the Region of Central Greece and the support of Chalkida’s Holy Metropolis. The VR will be presented on September 28th at Neo Prokopi Evias where the relic of St. John the Russian is (the second most visited pilgrimage monastery). Meanwhile we are in pre-production of a cultural event in Pylos and an educational project for the Ministry of Education in an effort to enhance student’s understanding allowing them to learn at their own pace and improve retention.
