Yiannis Smaragdis: Kapodistrias is the light Greece must see again!

Smaragdis revealed that Kapodistrias may be his final film. “Kapodistrias is a complete being with a profound relationship to the divine. When I finished the film, I felt a sense of emptiness. We don’t choose our subjects—they choose us.”

He stressed that the work is spiritual rather than political: “I didn’t direct it; I mediated so the light could pass through. It isn’t mine—it’s something above me.” The film took eight years to complete, despite numerous obstacles. “There was no obvious funding. After Kapodistrias, factions took over Greece and still hold the strings. Yet we must insist on light and our culture.”

He highlighted the Greek diaspora, to whom he plans to offer the film for free: “It will be given to schools, universities, and Greek centers worldwide. The diaspora is Hellenism’s great spiritual force.”

Choosing lead actor Antonis Myriagkos was, he said, “a metaphysical experience”: “I saw a photo and said, ‘This is Kapodistrias.’ When we met, it felt as if the governor’s soul spoke through him.”

Smaragdis also paid tribute to the late Vangelis Papathanassiou, calling him “a great philanthropist and spiritual man”: “He composed music for Cavafy and El Greco without ever asking for payment. He told me it was my duty to make Kapodistrias.”

The film is dedicated to his wife Eleni, “an angel” who supported all his work. “Before she passed, she told me this would be our best film.” He also dedicates it to Papathanassiou, to Natalia Kapodistria, and to benefactor Evangelos Stasinopoulos.

Recently admitted to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Smaragdis sees the honor as recognition of both his work and modern Greek identity: “Greekness is universal; it is Europe’s spiritual pillar.”

He believes the film’s message is hope: “A people who once produced a Kapodistrias can produce another. Greece never ends—she is light, a beacon for Greek souls.”

Asked what he wants audiences to take away, he said: “Sometimes I stand by the exits. If their faces are illuminated, the work has succeeded. If they’ve stepped even slightly into the light, it was worth it.”

He closed by describing his view of cinema: “Whatever we do must center on beauty, love, and prayer toward the divine. Cinema is not just images; it is poetry, confession, and light for Greece.”

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