By Nikita Chronis
Few Australian directors capture grit and unflinching honesty quite like Jason Raftopoulos.
Born in Melbourne, Victoria to Greek parents, the renowned filmmaker challenges artistic norms and tackles pressing social issues to uncover profound truths. Recently, Jason shared insights on his upbringing, career and aspirations.
Jason’s passion for filmmaking began with his father’s 8mm camera.
“I was fascinated by it,” he recalls.
At eight years old, during a trip to Athens and Ithaca, Jason filmed his first scene: a beach landscape.
“The blue ocean, the sand, the sunlight – it gave me my first taste of framing an image. It all began there,” he says.
The director’s Greek background deeply influences his work.
“Family is a recurring theme in my films. Philosophical questions about space, time, and consciousness drive my storytelling, and perhaps that impulse comes from my roots. My childhood memories in Greece – its landscapes and nature – shaped me as an artist,” Jason explains.
He cites filmmaking legends like Nikos Papatakis, Abbas Kiarostami, Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, and Yasujiro Ozu among his inspirations.
“Agnes Varda, who was also of Greek descent, has been particularly impactful. Ozu’s influence is especially evident in my film Voices in Deep (2021),” he says.
Jason’s first film, a dialogue-free short set in Flinders Lane, Melbourne, came in 1996. Before that, his focus was on acting. At 21, he moved to New York, driven by its reputation as the epicenter of creative arts.
“I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I loved theatre and studied at the William Esper Studio. Over time, I realised directing was my calling,” he says.
For Jason, acting and directing operate from distinct headspaces.
“Directing requires wearing multiple hats and managing countless moving pieces. It’s about collaboration, working with actors and creatives like cinematographers and sound designers. As a director, my priority is drawing out the best performances from actors,” he says.
Jason emphasises performance as the foundation of his films.
“If performances don’t work, there’s no film. I love character-driven stories and restrained visuals, where image and sound convey more than dialogue,” Jason says.
His films balance formal aesthetics with genre-specific nuances.
“West of Sunshine (2017, multiple award-winning including AACTA, and nominated both at home and internationally) leans into neo-realism, while Voices in Deep employs a more rigid mise-en-scène. With the latter, I wanted each frame to be as close to a painting as possible,” Jason says.
His approach to actors remains consistent across genres.
“The truth of the scene drives everything. Even in avant-garde settings, the acting style must align with the film’s tone,” Jason says.
Shot in Greece and set during the refugee crisis, Voices in Deep remains Jason’s most challenging project.
“Working with Greek actors and crew felt like family. While approaching difficult subject matter, I aimed to tell a story without judgment but also without shying away from dark details. It’s a universal story, even though it’s rooted in Greece,” he says.
The filmmaker has a deep desire to tell migrant stories.
“Despite countless films about the ‘ethnic’ experience in Australia, serious migrant stories remain underexplored. I want to highlight the second and third generations of Greek Australians, much like how the US embraces Jewish and Italian migrant narratives,” he says.
Jason’s upcoming projects span genres.
“I’m developing three feature films: a crime thriller, a coming-of-age story, and a dark comedy set in Greece inspired by Medea (think Medea meets Icarus). I’m also working to expand the reach of Voices in Deep across Australia,” he concludes.
For the award-winning director, storytelling through film is a way of unearthing universal values and getting to the core of the human experience.
