A UK film production company is looking for Australian descendants of families that used to live on one of the Greek islands in the Dodecanese. The company has just completed a feature-length fiction film on the island of Symi, shooting in the ruins of homes that were previously occupied by the island’s once-wealthy sponge divers and ship builders. When the industries collapsed, the families emigrated and their magnificent homes fell gradually into decay.
Although the film itself is not about the families that lived there, the makers, 1066 Productions Ltd, are putting together a book about the making of the film. They believe the film is likely to generate a new wave of tourism, with people keen to see the locations where it was shot. The producers want to include a chapter in the book looking at the lives of the people who used to live there.
James Collins, who wrote the script of The Judas Curse, and who has lived on the island for the past ten years, says he was inspired by seeing an old plaque over a ruined café showing it had originally opened in 1909, presumably with great optimism for the future.
“I walk regularly through these ruins and I was always seeing this plaque, and I began to wonder about the families that used to live here,” said James. “We know that as the ship building and sponge diving industries collapsed, families emigrated to the USA and Australia to continue their work. The houses fell into decay, and then suffered some destruction during the Second World War.”
The village stands on a hill overlooking the main harbour in Symi. It is believed to be the oldest settlement on the island with a fortress going back to the time of the Crusades. But most of the neo-classical buildings date from the 19th century when the island prospered.
“We would love to hear from the descendants of families that used to live in these ruined homes,” said James. “If there are interesting stories to tell and even, hopefully, photos to show, we would love to include them in the book. People who enjoy the film and who want to visit the locations are bound to want to know more about the families that once lived here,” he added.
Filming for The Judas Curse was carried out entirely on location in Symi in October and it is scheduled for release around the middle of 2014. Starring rising young British actor Kurtis Stacey, it tells the story of ‘Chris’, who hears his estranged father has been living on the island for many years and has now died. When Chris reluctantly visits the island to sort out his affairs and face his own personal demons from his childhood, he discovers his father was obsessed by the legends surrounding Judas Iscariot and the Gospel of Judas, and that he died in mysterious circumstances.
To contact Nigel Edwards, producer of The Judas Curse, email nigeledwards@1066
productions.com and for more information on the feature-length film visit www.1066productions.coma