“Because I always had arts in my heart.” Stella Skiadopoulou and I met more than twenty years ago, when we were both studying physics at the University of Athens. This summer, we found ourselves sitting on a balcony in Egaleo, Athens, talking about what happened in between. Stella went on to do a PhD in physics and postdoctoral research in several European countries, before eventually deciding to study filmmaking in Belfast. Now she is making films, exploring memory and nostalgia, and working with people who have migrated from different parts of the world. But the story is not quite as straightforward as physics to film. We talk about music, a master’s degree that almost didn’t happen, academic competition, the darker sides of research culture, and what it means to finally enjoy something just when you’re expected to turn it into publications and funding. Somewhere along the way, we get into the relationship between physics and cinema, how images can evoke experiences beyond what we see, the geometry of memory, the hero’s journey, and why some kinds of work matter even when we cannot easily measure their impact. And then there are the more practical questions. How do you keep making art while earning a living? What happens when you’re no longer interested in climbing the next ladder? And what if, ten years from now, you decide to take another bet? A long conversation between two old friends, with a little bit of Athens in the background. Support this project by: Gifting anonymous love Subscribing: Main Themes Taking Another Bet: From Physics to Film What happens when you spend years building a career, only to decide you want to do something completely different? Stella talks about moving between physics, music, research, and filmmaking, the practical difficulties of starting again, and what happens to your identity when you leave behind something you’ve spent years becoming. When Academia Gets in the Way of Learning How can someone complete a PhD in physics and still feel they were never particularly good at it? We talk about the difference between understanding physics and being good at mathematics, the pleasure of research, academic competition, sexism, and how the pressure to publish and prove yourself can change your relationship with something you once enjoyed. What Do We Do with Education Anymore? What makes scientific research, education, or a work of art valuable, and who gets to decide? From measuring the impact of scientific papers to the difficulty of earning a living through art, we question how usefulness, money, recognition, and personal satisfaction fit together, and whether everything we do needs to have a measurable outcome. Thinking in Geometry: Physics, Cinema, and Memory Can a film make us feel something beyond what we actually see or hear? Stella introduces us to haptic cinema, the relationship between images and the sense of touch, and different ways of experiencing time and memory, leading us into a conversation about imagination, geometry, storytelling, and how we make sense of our experiences. Giving People the Camera: Who Gets to Tell the Story? What changes when people who are usually the subjects of documentaries become the filmmakers themselves? Through Stella’s work with migrant communities in Belfast, we explore participatory filmmaking, questions of authorship and control, access to the film industry, and whether making a film can do something for its participants beyond producing a finished work. Chapters 00:00 A balcony in Athens, twenty years later 03:20 Studying physics and wanting to leave Greece 08:23 Music and the difficulty of starting again 15:04 Portugal and a master’s degree that almost didn’t happen 33:40 Never feeling particularly good at physics 42:45 Academic life, sexism, and research culture 51:49 Persevering and the Marie Curie fellowship 1:15:14 Who cares? Scientific research and its impact 1:24:19 What do we do with education anymore? 1:35:21 Imagination in physics and cinema 1:40:25 Haptic cinema and experiencing images 1:44:55 The geometry of memory and time 1:53:30 Storytelling, the hero’s journey, and therapy 2:05:10 The academic ladder and the shame of starting over 2:12:18 Participatory filmmaking and who controls the story 2:18:20 Giving people the camera, nostalgia, and migration 2:27:38 Taking another bet 2:38:31 Order, chaos, and the pendulum About Stella Stella Skiadopoulou is a film director, scientist, and educator based in Belfast. Her films include Nostos, Baltic (so it is!), Mantis Shrimp, and Lab Dreams. Explore her films and writing at stella-skiadopoulou.com. Support this project by: Gifting anonymous love Subscribing: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit orestisv.substack.com
