2009

PLATO'S ACADEMY

Feature film

Stavros, a Greek shopkeeper cares for his aging mother after a stroke. Pity that his worst fears slowly are realized: he might be Albanian instead of Greek! Feeding these fears are his mother's lapses into Albanian language, the disconcerting appearance of an Albanian brother of whom he was unaware, and his neighbor's dog who only barks at Albanians. Stavros and his "brother" gradually reach a tenuous rapprochement even as his Greek neighbors begin to shun him. The old lady's funeral offers opportunities for conflict and resolution in Stavros' tight-knit enclave even as the community rapidly changes around them.