A short film about the struggles of identity amongst third generation Greek Australians is in early development.
The film, titled Concrete, tells the story of third-generation Greek migrant, Aggelos, who faces questions of his identity as he is torn between reconnecting with his Greek culture on Easter and pursuing community within the underground rave scene.
Through a series of surreal interactions with the landscape, the boy recognises that his two seemingly opposing identities are shaped and informed by one another. Behind the camera are young filmmakers Renee Kypriotis and Ari Kwasner-Catsi, two Greek Aussies who want to bring this story to life, to share their own struggles with feeling connected to Greek identity. They are also hoping to find a connection with the broader Greek community around us.
“I think we’re drawing a lot on our personal experiences, at least I know I am a lot,” Kypriotis told Neos Kosmos.
“It comes with that disconnection from your culture in a way, and this is where I think I draw from personal experience, in a sense, because I’ve never really felt that Greek, because I can’t speak Greek and because I’m third generation, as the generations go on you don’t feel as connected to your culture.”
Kypriotis says her parents grew up fully entrenched in the Greek lifestyle, and were bullied because of that. So when it came time for them to raise their own children, including Renee, they left behind a lot of the Greek traditions.
“They did not feel like they could be Greek when they were growing up, and so I think to show that in the film, we wanted to show that generational gap with (Aggelos’) parents,” she said. It’s become quite apparent that there is a gap between Greek parents and their children today, even though both groups are born in Australia.
The second generation grew up with migrant parents, and therefore retained a lot of what people symbolised with being Greek, that is language and religion.
Today with the younger Greek Australians, it can be seen that they latch more onto values and culture like food. Second generation kids had to live a life mixed with Greek traditions and also the Australian lifestyle. Something that was hard for many, so shedding the Greek lifestyle became frequent.
Ari Kwasner-Catsi says this was important to show in the film, the disconnect but also the way third generations have re-embraced Greekness.
“One thing to note which I think is important to the film, looking at relationships across generations, when the first migrants got here they were trying to hang on to (traditions),” he told Neos Kosmos.
“A lot of those were brought here and obviously mixed in with everything else. And I think, when they had kids, who are our parents, there was often this need to get away from that and feel the overburden of being the kid of a migrant. That was something to almost shed.”
“But I think what’s interesting with the third generation is that…we’re not looking to shed that we’re not here being overburdened by this expectation, it’s more that we actually are trying to return to it,” he said.
We see a lot of Australian born children with Greek heritage proudly say they’re Greek, and call themselves Greek-Australian, even if some aren’t as connected to their roots like others. Perhaps it’s wanting to be part of something more, or maybe there’s more appeal to being a Greek-Australian? This third generation has adopted the Greek identity.
“It’s easier to latch on to being part of a more defined cultural narrative and cultural group than it is to just be like, I’m Australian. Because what is that? What does that even mean? And it means so many different things for so many people. And in some ways, I think by saying, I’m
Greek, that actually makes me feel more Australian. Because now I know my part in the story,”
Kwasner-Catsi said. Renee and Ari are looking to begin shooting in October, and would love to include many Greek creatives, including music and fashion, to make sure it has its roots planted heavily in the Greek community. They are also seeking possible investors.
If you would like to help in any way with this film, you can email either Reene (rne.e@outlook.com) or Ari (me@arikc.com).