“10th Day” by Vasilis Mazomenos at Fantasporto

Ali leads a solitary existence in a semi-basement apartment. His life is endlessly monotonous: he prepares his frugal meals, prays and then goes to sleep. His only diversion is the kick-boxing championship he’s training for. He makes a meager living by pilfering trash cans for scrap metal he hauls around town in a super-market cart. He’s plagued by memories of his home town, his family and his girlfriend. But worst of all, he’s haunted by the Ashura, which he always observes but never participates in. It’s a day of mourning for the majority of the Muslim people, commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, a leading figure in Islam.

The story is fictional, but it draws inspiration from hundreds of stories just like it, taking place in contemporary Athens.

info

Director, screenwriter: Vassilis Mazomenos / Starring: Ali Haidari, Mahdi Gorbani, Hosin Ahmadi, Vassilis Koukalani, Ioli Demetriou, Dina Avagianou, Nikos Arvanitis, Demetris Panagiotou, Stratos Kritikos, Leonidas Douramanis / Producers: Takis Zervoulakos, Vassilis Mazomenos/ Executive Producer: Poly Tranidou/ Director of Photography: George Papandrikopoulos/ Chief Editor: Yiannis Kostavaras/ Origina Music: DNA