Eva Stefani

Eva Stefani is a documentary filmmaker and a visual artist. She studied cinema and anthropology in Paris, London and New York (Ecole Varan, New York University, National Film School). Stefani holds a PhD from Pantion University, Athens. In her films, Eva Stefani captures the lives of different people in a very poetic and insightful way. In her dense ethnographic portraits, the filmmaker focuses on the highs and lows of human life. 

The film The Bathers follows a summer season in  the lives of a group of retired Greek men and women who are regular visitors at various Greek spa towns. Life around Greek spa towns moves slowly with rhythms that are reminiscent of times past. Within this listless atmosphere people feel free to do and say things they would never be allowed in their respective normal social circles. A sense of freedom and lightness is in the air. Instead of being amongst elderly people, one often gets the feeling of being around a group of teenagers in a summer camp. This joyful atmosphere  often alternates with reflections on the past or on death.