The Tree and the Swing

I saw this film at the San Francisco Greek Film Festival (where it won first prize). I really enjoyed the evolution of the story as played out through the scenes and through the lives of these people. There were no sort of "pre-told" relationships; we found out through the script what was going on between each of these people as it naturally evolved through the story. It made me think about what "home" is, and played against the memories we have about home -- and the challenges to that idea as we grow and experience more of life. There is also a kind of hidden history here about the Balkans and Greece in particular; the film takes you into how history has shaped the lives of people in a country through their experiences, and especially how human beings make individual decisions to either defy the brokenness of that history or to mend it. Very scenic as well.