14/03/2025 - The latest work by award-winning filmmaker Svetlana Strelnikova, set on the remote Greek island of Gavdos, is being screened in the Open Horizons strand of the festival

On the remote Greek island of Gavdos, an unlikely utopia emerges as beach-dwelling dropouts, tradition-bound locals and exiled Russian philosophers navigate an evolving world. Once considered the last remaining paradise, the island mirrors modern society’s struggles with globalisation, capitalism and crisis. As tensions rise between unity and self-preservation, dancer Pavlina attempts to bridge the divide but is met with apathy. Over the course of a decade, the island reflects the fractures of the outside world, revealing the delicate balance between freedom, identity and survival.

This is the story of People, Gods and Other Creatures [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the latest documentary by award-winning filmmaker Svetlana Strelnikova, which has had its world premiere in the Open Horizons section of the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival. Strelnikova, who is based in Greece, explores the intersection of idealism and reality. Her debut feature, Idiot, earned her an NYFA scholarship, and her films have been awarded at the DocuDays, Watch Docs and Message to Man festivals, among others. In 2016, Cardiopolitika was nominated for the Nika Award, and her most recent movie, Legend of Sigfried, was screened at numerous European festivals.

Strelnikova stated: “With this film, I would like to pass on to the viewers the fact that if they, as human beings, were to achieve self-knowledge, many problems would disappear forever. How could this be achieved? What is the value of knowledge? I realise that there are conflicts within everyone. The society formed by escapists faces the same challenges as a Western society. Everyone has their best intentions for a better future, but all of these efforts stall because of an unsuccessful attempt to understand and to be understood by each other. Against this backdrop, the film explores why this mysterious and windswept utopia is described by many as a mirror for our existence.”

She continues on the focus of her film: “The documentary focuses on experiences, images and showing the audience the world through different eyes. This observational yet poetic film is unconventional and experimental in form and content. The ultimate goal is to create a sense of realness and truth, but also, at the same time, to create a feeling and an experience that encourages us to reflect upon our lives and goals.”

People, Gods and Other Creatures is a co-production by Greece’s Anemon (Rea Apostolides and Yuri Averof), Germany’s Doppelplusultra Filmproduktion (Frank Müller) and France’s Seppia (Pascaline Geoffroy, Cédric Bonin and Maxime Owyszer), in co-production with ERT. The film was supported by the MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, the Creative Europe – MEDIA programme, the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center - Creative Greece, the CNC (in support of Greek-French co-productions), EKOME and the Grand Est region.

Check out our exclusive trailer below: