JEAN
A documentary by Julia Speropoulos
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A touching short film with a positive outlook of a survivor who lives naturally in the city.
SYNOPSIS
Jean is a 55-year-old Rastafarian man from France. On his 18th birthday, bitter from childhood memories, he left his adopted home. Guided by his Rastafari faith, with just a backpack on his shoulder, he decided to explore the world. His travels brought him to Puerto Rico, Spain and Italy. Then, his story changed 30 years ago, when he arrived in a small Greek city called Pylos Messinia. He decided to stay and has made himself a most unconventional home for himself since then. Living in a trailer home given to him by tourists, without running water or electricity, he struggles every day, facing obstacles to get by, things we consider simple chores. Even travelling is a difficulty, since he has to commute back and forth between his home and the town using his bicycle, regardless of the weather. Even though he has chosen to live in a natural way, he is still an active member of a society: As a farmhand he harvests olives and attends to citrus trees. He works with craftsmen and as a hired hand he helps locals with household chores. For the past 30 years Jean has chosen to live away from the civilization that everyone considers to be modern technology, mass media and processed food.
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Jean dreams of visiting Ethiopia, the birthplace of his religion, to further connect to his roots in «Zion», mother Africa.
Director's statement
"This film examines the rejection of a well-structured yet declining society of materialism, and the return to one’s roots where one can explore the spirit that was once lost. In a civilization full of distractions, one is indulged in their daily routine without putting much thought into what it means to be truly happy. When western civilization misinterprets the meaning of happiness for its people, Jean chooses to be happy living away from it. As he states in the film, “It’s not just where you live. It’s how you can improve your life, by using your own qualities only, by not expecting anything from anybody else. Only from nature and from God’s help.”