Shadow puppetry is not only part of the heritage of East Asia; Greece had its own traditional form of this popular art. In this leisurely drama, set in 1950s Athens, Antonis Barkis (Kostas Kasakos) is the master puppeteer for a traditional shadow show. However, although he is still making a living, it is clear that other forms of popular entertainment will soon supplant this one. This does not improve Antonis' temper, and his assistant's desires to modernize their entertainments only make it worse.

Master of the Shadows

Four episodes, four instances from a man’s life covering 25 years, from 1965 in Germany to 1990 in Athens. The episodes seem to be irrelevant to one another, yet they all focus on male powerplay, reveal the self-consciousness and moderation of the protagonist’s idiosyncrasy and depict some special aspects of the Greek male mentality. Probably Nikos Panayotopoulos’ most personal film, covering a substantial period of his generation’s years, “I’m dreaming of my friends” is based on the book by Dimitris Nollas, looks a lot like a “road movie” and features an all-male cast, as if there’s no room for women in it.