Director Statement
By Adonia Papathanassiu:
Looking back at our experience of writing, directing and
producing The Mission, there are a couple of things that
seem quite astonishing: for one, that we ever started it; two, that we ever finished it. Inspired by true events,
the idea for The Mission evolved slowly from a documentary
about metaphysics to a comedy about freedom. The evolution
took an astonishing 7 years.
This is how The Mission was born. In the spring of 2002,
Adrienne and I were experimenting with digital technology
and how it interfaced with the Internet. Such
extracurricular activities have always been important to us.
I am a biochemist by training and she is a life-long
disciple of classical philosophy. Our interest in technology
led us to befriend Eugene, who, at that time, was a physical
chemist aspiring to become a rabbi. The 2002-2003 time
period was an interesting one. The mood of the country was
sober. There was talk of imminent threats, survival kits
and war, which left the three of us feeling that our
freedoms were slowly eroding. At the same time, there was a
media buzz about how well the internet porn industry was
surviving the recession that followed the internet bubble
and the 9/11 events. This is how the idea of the young
Jewish man, who seeks to break out of the constraints of his
every day by making a controversial film, came to life.
At its core, The Mission is a serious film that uses a light
comedic language to raise somber questions. It moves along
two interweaving storylines: the first one is focused on
Eugene, a physical chemist trapped in a lonely, loveless,
and unsatisfactory existence, while the second one involves
a group of plantation slaves at the brink of the Civil War.
The movie deliberately blurs the line between imagination
and reality and leaves up to the audience to decide what is
real. The Mission is a comedy because we believe that there
is a cathartic quality in being able to laugh at something
serious. Some of the ideas presented in the film may be
controversial. We want to emphasize that we have no
intention of insulting anyone and if anyone feels insulted
after watching our film, we apologize in advance.
Filming The Mission was not an easy venture. Holding down a
day job meant that, on occasion, we had to shoot at 2 or 3
o’clock in the morning. A non-existent budget meant that we
had to continuously compromise between what we desired and
what we could actually accomplish. The majority of the
actors had never acted before and had to be recruited among
relatives and friends. We encountered a number of
post-production delays. Interestingly, the film that emerged
after the final edit in October 2008 is somewhat different
that the one conceived in 2002-2004. Scenes that seemed
important during filming they faded into obscurity during
editing, while others emerged as essential. Despite the
difficulties, we consider the making of The Mission an
amazing adventure.
