NATALIE GIANNOPOULOS

Art Direction for a Poetry Short Film

My Role: Art Director, Production Design, Costumes, and Masks

I provided the art direction for a short film adaptation of the poem „Whiteweight“ by Icelandic poet Hlín Leifsdóttir. The film centers on a figure who personifies „the silence,“ collecting the whispered secrets of those they meet.

My design translated the poem’s haunting themes into a visual narrative. The people in the film are seen in their daily lives, their secrets hidden behind masks that both conceal their identities and reflect a loss of humanity. These masks are not just objects of concealment; they are a physical manifestation of their detachment by hiding from themselves and others. The production design, costumes, and masks were all created to build a symbolic world where silence and secrets define the human experience within a seamingly perfect life.

Festivals & Screenings

International Poetry Festival in Kardamyli, September 2024, Greece

Bloomsday Film Festival, June 2025, Dublin, Ireland

Poem by: Hlín Leifsdóttir

Music: Morton

Directed by: Alkistis Kafetzi

Cinematography: Giannis Vassaras

Art Direction & Production Design: Natalie Giannopoulos

Costume of Silence & Tree Installation: Maria Salouvardou

Editing: Alkistis Kafetzi

Cast (in order of appearence):

Maria Salouvardou (Silence)

Avgeris (Little boy)

Marley Alford (Mother)

Chrysanthos Chorozidis (Father & Neighbor reading)

Alexandros Stauffer (Son)

Andreas Machairas (Old guy & homeless person)

Alyssa Könnecke (Young woman & Party scene)

Tobias Rimmel (Man & Police Officer)

Publisher: the Institute for Experimental Arts

Translation to English: Meg Matich

Produced and mixed by ANNA V. at “Sanctuary North Studio” 

Mastered by Alen Milivojevic