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The script of the “Armchair on the Pavement” is based on true facts and at the same very personal ones, as it draws inspiration from my parents.
Until recently, I opted to tell my stories through poems, literature, scripts for TV (and sometimes songs.) Now, my vital urge to tell this particular story coincided with my decision to -finally- share the stories that I have been “directing” in my mind for many years, through the transformative power of cinema, my passion since early childhood.
The subject matter of the film is the life of an elderly couple that has lived together for half a century, in a middle-class apartment building in central Athens. Gerasimos (85) is losing fragments of his memory -consequently of himself- because of dementia, while Olga (78) upholds with self-denial, as many facets of her personality as possible, though meaning now erupts from their daily lives. Their life balances in uncertainty, until the moment that it gets overturned by an unexpected incident.
The narrative combines lighthearted dialogue with more dramatic moments, retaining a balance on succession of contentment and defeat, moment to moment, as it actually occurs in daily life, where nothing can be taken for granted.
The other themes that I wish to explore are the accidental destiny of the personal belongings, once someone passes away, as well as the way the “old” is regarded, in a society that refuses to grow old, glorifying anything new, desperately fighting against any traces that time and ultimately life itself, residues on people.
My cinematic and narrative approach, draws inspiration from Gabriel Garcia Marquez magic realism, Ingmar Bergman’s anthropocentric cinema, Asghar Farhadi’s contemporary existentialism and Edward Hopper’s paintings’ “soft”, silent realism, all cherished personal references connecting through an invisible line, my fundamental existential concerns of memory, oblivion and timeless human contradictions._

Mary is a filmmaker with 25 years of hands-on experience in Film, Entertainment,

Producing and writing with wide experience in all aspects of Film Industry.

Mary holds a degree in Law from the University of Athens, Greece, an Msc in Marketing from the University of Stirling, Scotland and has been further educated in Digital Marketing in Harvard Business School. Her training in cinema includes studies in Film Direction at New York Film Academy/LaFemis. She is a Sundance Institute alumna and has been further trained in live seminars on Story Development & Screenwriting by Robert McKee, SCRIPT FACTORY U.K. (with tutors James Ivory, Mike Leigh, Christopher McQuarrie among others.)

She has worked for a number of blue-chip companies in Greece, Indonesia and Mexico including DDB GREECE, GREY INDONESIA, WARNER ROADSHOW GREECE, VILLAGE ROADSHOW GREECE, ATTIKA GREECE, PIECE OF CAKE PRODUCTIONS.

In 2001 she has been among founding members of “Jakarta International Arts Festival” in Indonesia and in 2012 she founded in Greece the award-winning Production company Kidarte.

Mary is a published novelist, short stories and poetry writer. She has written episodes for TV series (Mega/ Greece) and a theatre play («Roadtrip».)

Her first short film «The Armchair on the Pavement» as Writer-Director as well as Producer financed by Hellenic Broadcast Corporation 2023, is scheduled to premiere in Drama in September 2023, as Official Competition at the DISFF 46 National progamme.

Her second short film «The Wolf’s Mouth» has been selected to develop in the Pitching Lab of Drama Int’l Short Film Festival, DISFF 46.

Her first feature film «Pinky Promise» is currently developing in a different Sundance Institute programme.

Mary works as Producer/ Creative Producer at Piece of Cake an independent outfit in Greece that has produced and distributed more than 10 feature films. She is in charge to develop short & feature films as well as TV series that can break their national barriers and unite audiences through brave storytelling. She has been awarded by the Screenwriters Guild of Greece. She is a member of EWA and Screenriters Guild of Greece. Mary speaks English, French, Spanish and Indonesian.

The script of the “Armchair on the Pavement” is based on true facts and at the same very personal ones, as it draws inspiration from my parents.
Until recently, I opted to tell my stories through poems, literature, scripts for TV (and sometimes songs.) Now, my vital urge to tell this particular story coincided with my decision to -finally- share the stories that I have been “directing” in my mind for many years, through the transformative power of cinema, my passion since early childhood.
The subject matter of the film is the life of an elderly couple that has lived together for half a century, in a middle-class apartment building in central Athens. Gerasimos (85) is losing fragments of his memory -consequently of himself- because of dementia, while Olga (78) upholds with self-denial, as many facets of her personality as possible, though meaning now erupts from their daily lives. Their life balances in uncertainty, until the moment that it gets overturned by an unexpected incident.
The narrative combines lighthearted dialogue with more dramatic moments, retaining a balance on succession of contentment and defeat, moment to moment, as it actually occurs in daily life, where nothing can be taken for granted.
The other themes that I wish to explore are the accidental destiny of the personal belongings, once someone passes away, as well as the way the “old” is regarded, in a society that refuses to grow old, glorifying anything new, desperately fighting against any traces that time and ultimately life itself, residues on people.
My cinematic and narrative approach, draws inspiration from Gabriel Garcia Marquez magic realism, Ingmar Bergman’s anthropocentric cinema, Asghar Farhadi’s contemporary existentialism and Edward Hopper’s paintings’ “soft”, silent realism, all cherished personal references connecting through an invisible line, my fundamental existential concerns of memory, oblivion and timeless human contradictions._