Poplars

Lesvos, 1997, Gulf of Geras. A father waits at the port to pick up his two young children while smoking a cigarette. Across the shore, their mother helps them board the gazolina (boat). When the children arrive, they are older than when they started their journey. They formally greet their father and board the car, which will take them to a field of olive groves. There, three large poplars stand, symbolizing the three heroes. They immediately begin their work in the field. The trees and the children grow rapidly whenever the father smokes or becomes angry. Suddenly, the father realizes that time has passed unnaturally fast, noticing how much his children have grown. Confused by what is real and what is memory, he falls into a golden crater opened in the ground by the rapid growth of the trees, becoming one with the great poplar. Years later, the sons return to the field. They climb the big tree. A rustling shakes the branches, and the large leaves embrace the children.