The documentary Before Now After is part of a cross-disciplinary artistic initiative that merges contemporary dance with traditional music, storytelling, artistic documentary, and photography. This project excavates, records, and interprets the hidden history of Asia Minor’s heritage on the Greek island of Leros. Through this unique lens, it unveils the intersection of past, present, and anticipated future as seen by today’s people.
Through a contemporary exploration across Leros, the project moves and is moved, capturing what it means to be human in the present by connecting with the island’s local people of Asia Minor descent. Their stories reflect on looking back, establishing roots, uprooting, connecting, hoping for tomorrow, choosing togetherness, persevering, and hovering in a space between disconnection and continuity, between exile and arrival—a liminal present in between before and after.
The initiative Before Now After is thus rooted in uncovering both personal and collective pasts, seeking dialogue with the local community through art to reframe our connection with history, our collaborative actions in contemporary society, and our shared responsibility for the future.
Director’s Note:
“Each person is a universe.” January 2022, we prepared for our journey to Leros. I felt a great sense of anticipation because I didn’t know whom we would meet or how our story would unfold. Looking over the densely populated island from church rooftops, walking on deserted winter beaches, and finally meeting our hopeful and loving heroes, we realized we weren’t just filming a documentary. Our camera could capture our heroes’ faces, but until it captured their souls, I knew we had no film. Generations of people and generations of places move in parallel paths, shaped by history or by chance, sometimes altering direction. This documentary brings forth little-known stories of Lerian residents, descendants of Asia Minor refugees. It unveils a multi-faceted story inspired by familial and historical narratives, exploring memory and transience deeply
My companions Chloe and Polena, our choreographers, had only movement to offer, and they truly gave it with all their souls. Movement, whatever that might mean—movement in the flow of things, in the heroes’ interest, and in the movements of their own bodies — is something viewers will enjoy in the film. We became more connected to our own personal legacies, each of us mirroring something in our heroes—a grandmother, a fairy tale, a memory.
The Story:
After the catastrophe, Greeks known for their accomplishments in trade, the arts, and academia, endured hardships with resilience in their new homes, starting anew with a strength of spirit. The motivations shaping relationships among them include the struggle for survival, mutual support, building new lives, and healing wounds. Yet nostalgia for the lost homeland endures, for the land there was fertile and abundant, life was comfortable, and, above all, many had left family members and parts of their soul behind.
Backstage:
In this world that grows ever smaller, each of us needs all the others. We must seek out our fellow human beings wherever they may be.
