Filmmaker Adam Lichoudaris has spearheaded an intergenerational family endeavour, incorporating his children and grandparents to create the short film ‘Tomorrow’s Trees” which he hopes to release worldwide this year.
The director with Greek and Greek Cypriot roots described the film as an art house drama that follows a brother and sister’s sleepover at their great-grandparents’ house, which reveals the enduring power of legacy and the quiet hope planted in the simple actions that build a life.
Lichoudaris explained that the seven-minute production achieves this by “showing small everyday moments combined with the big questions we often have of life and ourselves”.
The director utilised his own family to tell the story, using his grandfather Athanasios (96), his grandmother Margaríta (87), and his two children Atticus (8) and Audrey (6) to play the characters.
Lichoudaris stated this is “an artistic expression of gratitude for my yiayia and pappou”, expressing that he had wanted to honour his Pontian grandparents through this medium for more than a decade.
“They have always supported and loved me and I wanted to give back through a heartfelt story,” Lichoudaris told Neos Kosmos.
The filmmaker said the direct inspiration came in 2013 upon discovering the anonymous proverb, “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit.”
He said this selflessness from the proverb is something that his grandparents have always shown him, which is what drove him eventually to create the film.
“Whilst it was not in active development since then, it is something that has been on my mind that finally clicked into place for me earlier this year,” Lichoudaris said.
“The film even opens with a poem that I wrote that aims to capture the essence of this proverb and what it means to me through the influence that my yiayia and pappou’ have had on my life.”
When asked about the process of creating this film with his family, the director admitted it was “the most rewarding and beautiful, albeit emotionally challenging, creative experience that I have had to date”.
He said that the film purposefully is trying to capture the rawness of his family and its members specifically, which is why he has everyone play themselves.
“I am not going to lie, I found this to be an emotionally difficult film to create at every step of the way. As my grandparents grow older, the themes that I explore in the film felt intensely magnified,” the director said.
“But for me, it was important to create what I saw in my heart and mind to share with them and the world. My beautiful wife was there to support me every step of the way from writing to completion, serving as our producer.”
Lichoudaris expressed that his goal now is to try get the short film out in the film festival circuit as soon and as widely as possible.
“We have an ambitious film festival circuit planned. Whilst this isn’t a guarantee of being shortlisted or screened, this August-December, our plans are to showcase the film in Italy, Greece, Japan and Canada,” he said.
“Domestically, we hope to start in Brisbane later this year, with the goal of finishing our festival run here at home in Melbourne in 2025.”
Lichoudaris concluded with a statement on the significance of individuals being able to showcase themselves through art.
“I think it is important to find creative ways to express yourself and share it with the world. We all have stories to tell, no matter how small we think they might be.”
