THE RIVER RUNS THROUGH THE VILLAGE
LOGLINE
Memory, the eternity of mortals.
Memory is our only true wealth. Andreas learns this the hard way, as his father who is suffering from Alzheimer's cannot recognize him anymore. In his attempt to help his father remember, Andreas loses track of the time following the path carved by footprints of memory.
SUMMARY
The Wealth of Memory.
“The River Runs Through the Village” is a short film by Xenophon Nikolakopoulos. It narrates the story of Andreas, a man approaching 40 whose father, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, no longer recognizes him. In an effort to help him remember, Andreas revisits old family memories.
As Andreas watches old family videotapes, he recalls a childhood game he played with his father. They would throw dry twigs into the river and watch their path as they were carried away by the current, declaring the winner the one whose twig traveled the farthest.
The game is about the random movement in the river but also symbolizing on a second level the very movement of the lives of the two protagonists as they sometimes converge and sometimes diverge, following the current of time.
This metaphor serves as a key to deciphering the film's central thematic core, which explores the allegorical relationship between time and memory, concluding that our memories seem to be our only true wealth.
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Celebrating Achievements.
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2024 - Best Editing "47th Drama International Short Film Festival"
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2025 - Official Selection "17th Psarokokalo ISFF"
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2025 - Official Selection "23rd Tirana International Film Festival"
NEWS & REVIEWS
From Headlines to Critiques.
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Director Xenophon Nikolakopoulos discussed "The River Runs Through the Village" with the audience during the Q&A at the 23rd Tirana International Film Festival.
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The Director of the film "The River Runs Through the Village", Xenophon Nikolakopoulos, responds to questions about the film during the Q&A session at the 47th Drama International Short Film Festival (DISFF47)
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"Athinorama", Greece’s most established film magazine, presents the awards of the 47th Drama Festival.
DIRECTOR
Xenophon Nikolakopoulos was born in Athens in 1981. He studied Computer Systems Engineering at the Piraeus University of Applied Sciences. From an early age, he became involved with photography, which he considers a means of communicating emotions, ideas, and experiences. He has attended photography seminars at the Benaki Museum under the instruction of Platon Rivellis, at Leica Academy in the workshop of Yiannis Galanis, and has participated in several group exhibitions and photo albums.
He has studied videography at SAE Athens and attended directing seminars with Greek filmmakers such as Nikos Grammatikos. He also took a sound directing seminar with Ilektra Venaki and is a graduate of the Film Directing Department at IEK AKMI in Athens. He now holds a Bachelor's degree in Film Directing from Metropolitan College Athens, in collaboration with Queen Margaret University in the UK.
