PSAROKOKALO MAGAZINE, LIVE ACTION
WILD
Reclaiming the Primal Female Psyche
Interviews with Eleni Vergeti & Ariane Labed
“The film captures the inner journey of a woman locked inside a hotel room with her dead lover, as she traverses through wild dreams and memories, to gradually lead herself to freedom.”
IN THE WAKE OF ITS TRIUMPH at the 18th Psarokokalo International Short Film Festival—where it was honored with the Best Greek Short Film Award—Wild (Άγρια) stands as an arresting, visceral exploration of trauma, myth, and liberation.
Written and directed by Eleni Vergeti (Silence 6-9, I, the house), produced by Horsefly Films (Yorgos Tsourgiannis) alongside Vergeti, and backed by Creative Europe MEDIA, the film features a commanding physical performance by Ariane Labed alongside Makis Papadimitriou.
Anchored by Thodoris Michopoulos’s haunting cinematography, Myrto Karra’s fluid editing, and Theodore Psychogios’s atmospheric score, Wild transforms a closed hotel room into a metaphysical purgatory. It is a space where a burnt forest becomes an altar of rebirth, and the shattered feminine psyche reclaims its ancient intuition.
We sat down with director Eleni Vergeti and lead actor Ariane Labed to dissect the visual architecture of grief, the creative power of isolation, and what it truly means to step into the "wild." cture of grief, the creative power of isolation, and what it truly means to step into the "wild."
Eleni Vergeti
The Architecture of Rebirth
The hotel room functions almost as a parallel, metaphysical space—a purgatory between trauma and rebirth. How did you approach, directionally and visually (in collaboration with Thodoris Michopoulos), the challenge of transforming a closed, claustrophobic space into a landscape of inner rebellion?
Eleni Vergeti: Two worlds coexist in the film side by side: the realistic world of the hotel and the dreamlike "underworld" of transformation and wandering. The wounded female nature is symbolically depicted through the imagery of a burnt forest, which will be reborn—just like her—from its ashes.
The heroine, lost between these two realms, searches for her footing until she finds her Exit. Therefore, all her actions inside the room function as small ritualistic attempts at farewell and preparation for regaining her freedom. The room turns into an ark of memories and ghosts, a transitional space of metamorphosis where her relationship with her dead lover completes its cycle before she abandons him for good.
From the very beginning, Thodoris [Michopoulos], Ariane [Labed], and I shared a relationship of deep trust and freedom. We had a basic shot list, but during the shoot, organic and improvisational moments naturally emerged from both of them. Saying "thank you" feels insufficient for their collaboration, support, and contribution!
In your director's statement, you mention the need to reconnect with the primal, "wild" female nature that has suffered oppression and violence. How do you define this "wildness"? Is returning to instinct the only path to healing the suppressed trauma of an abusive relationship?
E.V.: A woman’s "wildness," as I perceive it, has nothing to do with violence—unless her life is threatened. Essentially, the "wild" woman is the awakened, wise woman; the one who connects with her heart and, through that connection, rediscovers her lost intuition and her freedom—so severely suppressed throughout the centuries.
“'Wildness' is primarily an act of 'remembering': the moment a woman stops living according to the fears dictated by patriarchal structures and begins to rediscover her authentic self.”
Through this long and often painful journey of "return," healing inevitably emerges.
The film shifts between wild dreams, memories, and reality. How did you work with editor Myrto Karra to construct this fluid rhythm, where the past and present coexist within the protagonist's psyche?
E.V.: From the moment I started writing the script, I consciously wanted to avoid creating a realistic film. The narrative was designed so that the inside and the outside, the dream and reality, would be in constant dialogue, as they represent different expressions of the same psychological state of the woman.
That is why I didn't follow the dominant convention of linear storytelling, but rather a more associative, narrative timeline based on her emotions, memory, trauma, and intuition. With Myrto, we experimented on top of the script's existing structure, and the rhythm was born out of our effort to maintain the organic coexistence of these two worlds—allowing the audience to experience the character's internal shifts without rigid boundaries between reality and dreams.
The film was awarded Best Greek Short Film at the 18th Psarokokalo ISFF. What does this recognition mean to you, and what lasting impression do you hope Wild leaves on audiences?
E.V.: The award was completely unexpected, and my joy was immense! I am deeply moved to see Wild finding its space within the cinematic landscape. I hope it acts as an internal mirror that brings both women and men into contact with their own wounds and personal transformations. For me, that is precisely what this film was: the gateway to a personal journey of metamorphosis.
Ariane Labed
The Language of Physicality
Your performance is marked by a raw, visceral physicality. How did you approach a role where the body itself must carry the weight of trauma, grief, and the gradual awakening of wild power within such a restricted setting?
Ariane Labed: I often approach characters through physicality, but in this case, it was obviously the central language of the film. The character is somehow a representation of “a reaction”—maybe the fantasy of reaction. The one she probably couldn’t have when facing abuse.
This had to appear through an animalistic, instinctive approach. I’ve known Eleni for years and I think we have a mutual understanding of the kind of language she wanted to create. This movie is, above all, a physical experience.
For much of the film, the protagonist faces intense isolation, confinement, and the shadows of the past. How did you navigate this sense of solitude in your performance, and how did you use silence as a key dramatic tool?
A.L.: Maybe that was the most challenging part. The only living creature I could interact with was the cow! For the rest, it was with the dead body of a man, the dead body of a dog, and a dead forest!
“But this is where isolation becomes very creative. Having an internal monologue can be immensely powerful.”
I feel so lucky I had the chance to explore that with Eleni.
"WILD" was awarded Best Greek Short Film at the 18th Psarokokalo ISFF. What does this recognition mean to you, and what lasting impression do you hope the film leaves on audiences as it continues its journey?
A.L.: It’s always amazing when people are touched by something so intimate and personal as Wild. It means that the audience can be moved by a metaphysical and physical experience, and that was Eleni’s goal, I believe.
And of course, as gender violence is unfortunately an international issue, I believe that many women can connect with the character and have a deep physical understanding of the film. The certainty that we are not alone.
Author Soultana Koumoutsi