Run Natasha Run is about a 29-year-old Athens journalist as she prepares for her first marathon. It is a 1.5 year process, offering a look at what running - and contemporary life - is like in Athens today. Natasha talks directly to the camera along the way, as she learns to overcome her injuries and prepare herself mentally for the event. In between her "monologues", the camera follows Natasha around the Greek countryside, where she volunteers at running events, primarily ultramarathons, until she runs her marathon. There are brief interviews with amateur runners, as well as running "stars" such as the ultramarathon champion Yiannis Kouros and Sydney Olympics gold medalist Naoko Takahashi. The finale is set in Berlin, Germany, at that city's popular marathon.

Credits

Director/camera/editor: Angelike Contis

Producers: Angelike Contis, Natasha Giannousi

Music: Jez Bentley

Duration: 51:30

Language: Greek with English subtitles. Some English, Japanese and Italian.

Date: 2004

Format: Mini-DV

About the production:

This independent production was shot in Greece and Germany and edited in Athens, Greece.

Director's statement:

It was definitely the journey and not the destination that mattered in this runner's road trip of sorts, which I spent several years making with my dear friend Natasha. It was a challenge because it's hard to film moving targets and many chapters of the diary were painful until Natasha reached her final goal. We spent months editing this project and there was sheer delight in bringing the picture together with Jez's music, in this, the first of our many collaborations.

PS - Marathon runners are completely crazy but wonderful beings, who inspire the rest of us to have an ounce of the dedication that they have.

Screenings:

• April 2006 - Lisbon, Portugal. Sports Film Festival of Lisbon
• June 5-10, 2005 - Moscow, Russia - Russian international Festival of sports movies "Krasnogorski"
• October 19, 2005 - Athens, Goulandris Museum of Natural History - Click here for more info and photos
• June 25, 2005 - Rhodes' Ecofilms Festival
• October 29-November 3, 2004 - International Sport Movies & TV Festival, Milan, Italy
• July 10-11, 2004 - Bellerefontia Run, Athletic and Cultural Park of Nea Makri, Attica, Greece.
• Premiered March 19, 2004 at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (Greece)

Races in the Film:

Greece:

• Efhidas Ultramarathon (110 kms, from Plataies to Delphi)
• Athens Classic Marathon (42.195 kms, from Marathon to Athens)
• Athens 10 km run (on same day as Athens Classic Marathon, from Agia Paraskevi to Athens)
• Eleusis - Corinth Ultramarathon (60 kms)
• Spartathlon Ultramarathon (246 kms, from Athens to Sparta)
• Susan G. Komen "Race for Life" (5 km breast cancer benefit in central Athens)
• Annual Kouros Run (13 km race in Vlahokerasia, Arcadia dedicated to Yiannis Kouros)
• Bellerefontia Race (7 kms, Nea Makri, Attica)

Germany:

• Berlin Marathon (Popular marathon boasting over 30,000 runners)