The Summer with Carmen

Zacharias Mavroeidis's 2023 Greek film takes place at a queer beach in Athens. Demosthenes and Nikitas swim and talk all day; Nikitas wants to write his first feature and proposes turning what his friend went through last summer into a screenplay. The film then runs on two levels: the conversation at the beach and the argument about the rules of screenwriting on one side, and the dramatisation of the events on the other. That summer Demosthenes had to look after Carmen, a dog left by his ex, while his relationship with his father and his own difficulties with attachment came to the surface. The tone is light, the humour plentiful and the sex shown directly. The structure also works as a joke about filmmaking. It screened in a sidebar at Venice. Who it's for: viewers who like queer comedy and Mediterranean cinema. Who it's not for: anyone uncomfortable with explicit sexual scenes; the film uses them freely.