The Armchair on the Pavement

The Armchair on the Pavement is a story inspired by true events and at the same time very personal.

The main theme is the life of an elderly couple living together for fifty years in a neighborhood of Athens. Gerasimos is losing parts of his memory – and therefore of himself – due to dementia, while Olga has become his caregiver – since there is no other choice – while still wavering between her subjective need to maintain her partner’s image, strong and unscathed, and the objective need to protect him from his own self, which is irrevocably “vanishing.”

The film has many comic and dramatic moments, that is, it has the real “taste” of life, where joy alternates with denial, every moment, without anything being taken for granted.

My need to tell this story stems from my reflection on the way our society treats the elderly, a society that refuses to grow old, that deifies newness and youth, at the expense of every trace left by time and ultimately by life itself.

Director & Writer: Mary Kolonia
Mary Kolonia was born in Athens. She studied Law at the Kapodistrian University of Athens and holds an MSc in Marketing from Stirling, Scotland. She graduated from New York Film Αcademy (Directing) and from the Sundance Institute (Directing/Screenwriting).
Cast: Pantelis Papadopoulos, Sofia Seirli, Lia Aglaia Karambela

Multiple awards and nominations, among them:

• 46th International Short Drama Festival – Drama – “Technical Excellence” Award ETEKT-EOT
• 3rd Dubai International Film Festival – Dubai – “Special Mention” Award
• 9th The Greek Film Festival in Berlin – Berlin – 2024 – “Special Mention” Award
• San Francisco Greek Film Festival – San Francisco – 2024 – “Astron Audience Award” – Favorite Narrative Short
• Setting Sun Film Festival – Melbourne 2024 – “Best Cultural Diversity” Finalist
• Swedish Academy of Motion Pictures – Best Short Film Award 2024
• 19th International ASTO Short Film Festival – Audience Award