Two weeks ago, there was real excitement in Agios Georgios (well, I admit—it was mainly my own). Rumour has it that Netflix is on the island filming a new movie. Though I tried, I couldn’t get much info except that it is a documentary about a love story.
As a movie junky, I was very excited. I suppose most people know that Tom Hanks has a summer house in Antiparos, that Nia Vardalos and Matthew McConaughey visited the island, and names like Whoopi Goldberg and others appears from time to time.
We already know that Hollywood stars adore the island, but the filming of a real Netflix production—this is a true bonus! My curiosity piqued, so I decided to check if other movies have been made in or around Antiparos. This is always a good way to learn about a place (and my perfect excuse to watch a movie quietly since I am “working”). To my surprise, I found four movies that have been made on this magical island since the 60s!
And here I am thinking I was Columbus…
One of the movies is Suntan, filmed in Antiparos in 2016. It was filmed mainly in the Camping area and the village* as well as the beaches near Agios Georgios and Soros, which I recognised! The movie is about a 40-year-old local doctor who falls in love with a young tourist and becomes obsessed with her. But what caught my attention were these two observations…
First, I can’t believe how much the island evolved and changed in less than six years! I hardly recognized some of the beaches and even the places next to KAMEO! So many houses have been built, and the island changed so much. Even the main road looks different and much less busy.
Second, the movie portrayed the amazing nightlife in Antiparos very well. Many people mistakenly think that Antiparos is quiet once the sun goes down and that they need to travel to Paros for a night out. Boy, are they wrong! A tour in the square area at the end of the main road will take you to remarkable bars with loud music, and like in the film, you’ll find many people of all ages partying together. Here’s my piece of advise—don’t arrive too early. The real bar scene starts at almost midnight, but there is plenty to do before then—great dinner venues and beautiful boutiques with high end clothing are open until 1:00 a.m. in the summer. The famous La Luna disco opens at 3:00a.m., and it is so popular that they keep the ferry going in the summertime so it can bring people from Paros to party in Antiparos. I am starting to worry what will happen next year when my beautiful teenage girls start partying there. Then, I will for sure start losing sleep…
On a personal note, a vivid nightlife with Hollywood stars can be very exciting, but I am not much of a party animal. For me, the idea of a perfect night out is grabbing a blanket and walking 70 steps straight to the beach right downstairs from KAMEO. Here you can watch real stars in the sky. You can see the entire galaxy right above you, and once a month, you get the gift of the full moon in sight. The gentle sound of the waves, the reflection of the moon and the stars above you are more magical than one can imagine. This is the real Antiparos nightlife for me.
That’s it for now!
See you soon,
OK
*The village is the local nickname for the port area, and it is the area where most nightlife takes place.
**The three other movies include Madalena (1960), Monday (2020), which has an island scene (it was mostly filmed in Athens), and Amphitrite (2017), a cave diving documentary film.