After a lesson about cosmic archaeologists and a water fight in the schoolyard, Elly steals Faye’s soul and Faye gives Elly a rare birthday present. But then, under a sky full of stars, a song from the past will remind the girls that nothing really lasts forever.
Year of production 2024 Length 14' CountryGreece Shooting Format Super 16mm, HI8 Camcorder Aspect Ratio1:66:1 Dialogue Greek Director Thelyia Petraki Production TopSpot, Out of the Box Films Co-productions Prosenghisi, Watchmen, Authorwave, Stefi Films ProducersKostas Tagalakis, Panos Papadopoulos Co-producers Christopher Zitterbart, Panos Bisdas, Federico Pietra Writer Thelyia Petraki Production ManagerElma Efthymiou Cinematographer Tudor Vladimir Panduru Editors Christos Giannakopoulos, Myrto Karra SoundPanagiotis Papagianopoulos Sound Design George Ramantanis Sound Editor Christos Giannakopoulos Sound Mixing George Ramantanis Music Alive She Died Art Director Vasilis Kiriakidis Costume DesignVassilia Rozana Hair/Make up Ioanna Lygizou, Vasiliki Kita Post Production Panos Bisdas (Authorwave) Visual Effects Pantelis Anastasiadis Casting Alex Kelly, Christine Akzoti Cast Panayiota Yiagli, Ellie Galousi, Argyris Pavlidis, Thanos Koniaris, Froso Gaza Festival selections Locarno Film Festival 2024 - World Premiere Concorto Film Festival 2024, Italy Tetova International Film Festival 2024, Republic of Macedonia Director's Statement ‘400 cassettes’ is a classic high school film, given in a deconstructive way. It takes place in an analogue universe that resembles much of our world and explores loss and memories through a girly friendship, which fails to stand the test of time. But what is time? Observing the night sky challenged my concept of time and death. The stars made me realize that they are merely a reflection of entities that no longer exist, though they shine a light on our present world. It was then that I began to slowly comprehend how the laws of physics could allow time to run backward and forward. The next thought that came to mind was that linearity of time only exists due to memories and mortality. Then again memories feel as if we keep bouncing back and forth in time. So, in contrast to the convectional understanding that ‘nothing lasts forever’ I started to entertain the thought that indeed ‘everything that ever has been always will be’ just like the life circle of a star which ends and starts all over again perpetually, never ceasing to exist. These illusive concepts led me to “400 cassettes” a cinematic realm where the past, present and future coexist in a soothing and transformative way and where past periods of life, past relationships, past selves are being viewed through a timeless chrono-synclastic infundibulum.
