“Many writers dream of having their work adapted into film”, especially if the project is undertaken by an acclaimed director they admire and respect.

Not long after we spoke to author Peter Papathanasiou about the publication of his first book, a memoir entitled Little One (published by Allen & Unwin), we are informed that his book is about to take off on another journey. Screen Canberra has given the green light for the story to be developed into a film or TV series that will be directed by award-winning film director Peter Andrikidis.

“My story takes place over several generations and multiple countries,” Mr Papathanasiou tells Neos Kosmos, as he prepares to write the script for the film that will highlight the strength of Greek culture and people in Australia – many of whom migrated here during the 1950s and 1960s.

“But the production will also showcase Canberra and its history in a way never seen before on screen,” he adds.

“The way Canberra developed in the last century is unique: from a very sleepy country town, it has only in recent years started to grow out of that, to become a city. Screen Canberra thought it was a great way to show the history of Canberra, the Australian history.”

In his memoir Little One, Peter Papathanasiou tells his own story which unravels from the moment he discovers that he was adopted at the age of 25.

The narrative however, takes the reader back in time, to the experience of his adoptive parents as they travelled to Australia to begin a new life, with a parallel view into the lives of the family left behind in Florina: his biological parents who would later decide to give the childless couple a baby.

“These stories will die with us. If we don’t tell them, who will?”

“I like true stories”, film director Peter Andrikids (Wog Boy, Alex and Eve, Kings of Mykonos) tells Neos Kosmos in an interview about this exciting new project.

“What does it mean to adopt a child and how do you feel when you find out you are adopted? This has a resonance for many people, certainly in Australia, and around the world. It is a very personal story and very truthful”.

“The book is also about family,” Mr Andrikidis explains. “A sister giving a child to her childless brother is a huge thing in any culture. But in Greek culture there is a difference and I find that interesting.

“Since they were able to conceive, they gave their child to a relative who couldn’t. It shows what kind of love they had. It is a Greek thing, that love for each other, where the commitment to family is a huge thing.”

Mr Andrikidis resonated immediately with the story. He is Greek Australian, the son of migrants who arrived in Australia around the same time as the book’s author, and who grew up as an only child too, so the circumstances were familiar to him.

“As second-generation Greeks in Australia, it is important that we tell these stories -the experience of immigrants who came here and achieved what they did- otherwise they will die with us. No one is going to do it for us.

We know this because we have lived it. We are on the other side now, and, therefore, it is our time to tell their stories. They supported us, worked in factories to help us get to where we are. They sacrificed, yes, but in the Greek culture they don’t call it ‘sacrifice’ – they just do it.”

Mr Andrikidis envisions the adaptation to be in the form of a feature film, a historical drama, with elements of a documentary, or if a feature film is not possible, it will be adapted into a series, which will allow for the development of the story across different periods in time and countries.

He is also looking forward to the prospect of filming again in Greece. He has filmed in Greece episodes of Fat Tony and the The Kings of Mykonos.

“The Greek film industry is pretty good and it is easy to film there. The community is behind you all the way. They also understand that the exposure is good for tourism. And the Greek actors I worked with, like Zeta Makropoulou, are fantastic”.

He adds that it will be important to cast Greek actors to play the roles of the Greek characters, if the film is to be convincing.

The Greek Australian story of migration for the first time on screen

Beyond the personal and emotional story of Little One, the film will offer a unique opportunity to tell the Greek-Australian story of immigration on screen.

It is perhaps the first time that a film will be devoted to this period of migration, when multitudes of Greeks were forced to leave behind the hardships they faced after the end of the Second World War.

The film or series will reveal the stories of those who left, but also of those who stayed behind, never knowing if they would ever see their brothers, cousins or children again.

This year will see the first steps in the development of the script and firming up a creative team. The producers are Peter Andrikidis and Shannon Wilson-McClinton.

Florina 1922. A photograph of the north western Macedonian town that author Peter Papathanasiou bought.

Author of "Little One" Peter Papathanasiou, with his parents, Vassili and Elisabeth. Photo: Supplied

Peter Papathanasiou meets his brothers in Greece. Photo: Supplied