OUR WINTER UPDATE FROM HYDRA
Dear Friends and Patrons of ArtCinema,
Our beloved Hydra is already feeling the signs of European springtime: slightly longer days, milder temperatures, and almond blossoms - amidst a burst of global attention in the headlines.
It marks a historic return of Hollywood to Hydra, almost 70 years since Sophia Loren arrived to film Boy on a Dolphin in 1956.
Naturally, we’re proud that ArtCinema began honouring this cinematic legacy last year with our first film production, Hydra & Sophia: Echoes of a Dolphin, which told the unique story of that moment through the voices of our local community.
We will soon reveal the 2026 dates for the ArtCinema Hydra curated weekend, offering local friends and international patron guests an unforgettable ArtCinema experience. We warmly invite you and your friends to join us as Patrons and help shape what comes next.
It’s going to be fascinating to see what unfolds this year.
Let's enjoy The Ride(rs) together.
CINEMA & LITERATURE:
From Boy On A Dolphin & Sophia Loren to Brad Pitt & The Riders, a bestselling novel - our Hydra returns to the frame.
Actor and producer Brad Pitt and his cast have started filming The Riders scenes set in Hydra, adapted from the celebrated 1994 novel by acclaimed Australian author Tim Winton. The screenplay is by horror writer David Kajganich (Suspiria), with direction by Edward Berger (Conclave, All Quiet on the Western Front).
The Riders follows Fred Scully (Brad Pitt), who, after years of travelling with his family, arrives at Dublin Airport to collect them - only for his seven-year-old daughter, Billie (Coco Greenstone), to appear alone, mute, and without any trace of her mother (Julianne Nicholson). His life is shattered in an instant, propelling a desperate search across Europe, with Hydra as one of its key locations - where they will be filming for around 14 days across several well-known spots.
The cast also include Michael Smiley (Bad Sisters), Danny Huston (The Aviator), Camille Cottin (Call My Agent!), and Ulrich Thomsen (Lanterns).
The Riders film is co-produced by a team that includes Scott Free Productions (Ridley Scott, Michael Pruss), Plan B Entertainment (Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner), and Nine Hours (David Kajganich), together with the Greek production services company Blonde, founded and led by Fenia Cossovitsa (pictured above).
OUR LOCALS' TALES
We learned from locals that Australian writer Tim Winton actually lived on Hydra for about six months in the 1980s, making The Riders return especially resonant - with Hydra is portraying itself, and Brad Pitt playing an Australian.
This production also reflects a broader literary continuum unfolding this year, underscoring Hydra's enduring connection with writers - and particularly celebrated Australians. From Charmian Clift, who wrote the definitive Peel Me a Lotus about life on Hydra with her husband George Johnston, to Johnston himself, whose years on the island in the 1950s inspired generations of writers, songwriters - including later Leonard Cohen - and intellectuals, Hydra continues to shape the literary imagination. The pair were also friends then with the illustrious Australian painter Sidney Nolan, who created Greek-inspired works while staying at the clifftop Hydra mansion of the renowned Greek artist Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika.
(above, Brad Pitt on Instagram, Tim Winton, Charmain Clift & George Johnston, Sidney Nolan's untiled "Hydra", Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika painting of his Hydra house (1949) and painter himself, Leonard Cohen arrived in Hydra in 1960)
In 1956, Charmian's ten-year-old son Martin was said to have served as Sophia Loren's translator during the filming of Boy on a Dolphin on the island. The same year marked a breakthrough for Greek cinema, when Michael Cacoyannis's Girl in the Black (To Koritsi sta Mavra) being filmed on Hydra, which earned international recognition with a Golden Globe nomination, paving the way for his later Hollywood triumph, Zorba the Greek (1964).
This rich tapestry of history, literature, and cinema is something we will continue to explore - connecting past, present, and future through the lens of Hydra.
(above, Girl in Black's lead, Ellie Lambeti, Sophia Loren, Katerina Agorogianni at Hydra's Lulu's Taverna (a location in The Riders) and Hydra in 1956)