When a Greek diner owner is diagnosed with dementia, he imagines himself as a late-night talk show host, putting his wife’s love to the ultimate test. Synopsis: Yianni and Plousia (Joe Cortese and Julia Ormond) own a charming family diner by the beach, where Yianni is a convivial host. Lately, Plousia has noticed that her husband of 40 years is not quite himself and is often wistfully distracted. One day, Yianni slips into a parallel realm, a world of his fractured mind, imagining himself as the host of a late-night talk show. The show features beloved diner staff and customers as guest stars. Plousia learns that Yianni is facing dementia but hides his illness from coworkers and best friends (Kevin Pollak and Rosanna Arquette). As his condition worsens, Plousia becomes Yianni’s full-time caregiver and lifeline. When a woman and her seven-year-old son move in across the street, Yianni is convinced that the young boy is the son they lost 30 years ago. After a day of escaping home and running into the boy, Yianni, in a moment of clarity, navigates them to the diner, reuniting them with their worried families. Knowing he misses his customers, Plousia conceives a whimsical idea of building a mini diner on their front porch for Yianni in his final days. Yianni serves up toast and bottomless coffee to his cherished patrons, making the world happier for everyone he meets.
One day, in the course of my father’s battle with dementia, he imagined himself to be Johnny Carson. My Mom, his first love, was celebrated as a “special guest star” on the show that played in his mind. She happily played along in a chair beside him as he would interview her. Mom and I often wondered if the “show” was a kind of storehouse for his fading memories or if creating the show somehow soothed his fractured mind. HERE’S… YIANNI! is inspired by the story of my Greek parents, two nearly penniless dreamers who immigrated from their homeland and fell in love on the boardwalk of Asbury Park, NJ. During the last years of his life, Mom became Dad’s fierce protector and lifeline. When Dad retreated further into the confines of his mind, Mom met him where he was residing. She was determined that no hardship or illness would deprive her or her husband one second of joy. That time, way back when, was lost to Dad, so Mom celebrated the new man in the here and now. She created new memories for herself, for Dad, and me. Over and over, she would remind me of an old Greek saying, “Life can be bitter. But love can make it sweet.”
Christina Eliopoulos is a writer-director and first-generation Greek-American born in the fabled Asbury Park, New Jersey, exploring a mythic, fractured Americana in each project she creates. Christina has directed and produced two documentary features, Demon On Wheels and Greetings From Asbury Park, and several documentary shorts, brand films, and commercials. She is the co-writer and co-creator of Old Made Men (in development) and the supernatural drama The Schaduwen (in development). Next on her slate is the narrative feature film Motherland, which Christina will direct from her own screenplay. Christina was a finalist in the Academy Nicholl Screenwriting Competition for her script “King Of Florida,” which also won 1st Place in the Family/Animated genre in the Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest. HERE’S YIANNI! is her narrative feature debut and stars Julia Ormond, Joe Cortese, Kevin Pollak, Rosanna Arquette, Eric Roberts, and Sofia Vassilieva.
