Η ΧΗΡΑ ΤΣΑΙ Ο ΚΑΤΡΕΓΑΡΗ
The Widow and the Brigand

2021, short film in the Grecanic language, Staiti (RC)

A speleological expedition into the language of Grecanic fairy tales. In search of a language capable of evoking extinction, we encountered the Grecanic language in the Calabrian hinterland. In these rural areas, steeped in a mythological past, we developed a narrative involving native animals and young ancestors. The bitterly wild landscape serves as the backdrop for an experimental documentary, offering the opportunity to experience the oral transmission of a dead language. Through an anthropological lens, it reveals forgotten behaviors and logics. To provide a magnified view of the community at the heart of this fragile and fragrant landscape, the dramaturgical structure of The Perfect Human by Jørgen Leth was chosen. This process allowed us to portray the protagonists of the fairy tale at the threshold between character and person.

The Image

“Η χηρα τσαι ο κατρεγαρη - The Widow and the Brigand” is an experimental documentary inspired by the Grecanic fairy tale of the same name, presented in a dead language and Calabrian dialect. The protagonists of the work are the landscape of Staiti (RC) and its inhabitants. The silent, static images are accompanied by a narrator's voice, alternating the events of the fairy tale with documentary descriptions. The Grecanic language, suppressed during the Fascist regime, is now a linguistic minority at risk of extinction.

Credits