Why did you decide to follow the law career path, since from an early age you discovered your inclination towards the arts?
Stathis Kolias: To a certain degree because my family encouraged me to, because I would have a secure job.
Considering that everything is a matter of perspective, do you experience a movie differently as a critic and as a viewer respectively? Are there times when the two perspectives might not agree?
S.K.: A big problem that both critics and creators-directors have to face is that they can’t enjoy a movie, because they always see the mistakes. They see the frames, they say this here was poorly done, I would do it this way, they see the plot inaccuracies, that it doesn’t make sense. I am lucky, my best friend who is a film critic, my friend Chatzikos can’t do it, that I can still be a viewer and not spot mistakes. To be a viewer, you will have to let yourself get carried away by the movie. So watching a movie as a critic and as a viewer is different, because when you are a critic, it’s very difficult for a movie to carry you away. So I would probably say that I’m not such a professional film critic, so as to be able to enjoy a film as a viewer.
So you might watch a film as a viewer and not like it, but the same film might thrill you as a critic?
S.K.: Yes, it’s very probable, because if you analyze something afterwards based on logic, while before it has overwhelmed you emotionally, you can find the flaws and say ‘but there was a problem here, here and here, nevertheless I had liked it’. Quite often, the analysis can just ruin the initial pleasure.
Place the following in an order of preference: cinema, radio, theatre.
S.K.: Ohhh…now you’re tough on me! Can I ask a question? Cinema in terms of consuming it or creating it? Are you asking me, in this case, if I would rather consume or create cinema, radio and theatre?
To answer based mostly on your speech and your career path, let’s say in terms of creation.
S.K.: Good! Theatre then will be last for me. But do I have to choose between radio and cinema? My answer won’t change anybody’s life but… cinema will be in the second position and radio will be in the first. I don’t know why…
When you were asked to give a speech in this year’s TEDxAUTH, what made you say yes? What did you want to communicate?
S.K.:Â Initially, I asked them why? There are better lawyers than me, there are better comedians than me, there are better film critics than me. I considered it a great honor to have been asked, I just saw it as a chance for me to speak my own truth, as somebody who loves different things and co-exists in different fields. To just speak my truth, nothing more.
Translation: Kleio Antonaki
Review: Niki Saridaki