Behind the Shadows

Behind the Shadows (Πίσω απ' τις Σκιές) is a Greek-language documentary that received its release on April 23, 2025. The film centers on a student of Greek shadow puppetry — a tradition approximately 130 years old — who travels to Wushan, China, to spend time with Chinese shadow puppetry master He Shihong, whose craft descends from a practice more than 2,000 years old. The documentary records He Shihong's performances and his reflections on his art and career, while the filmmaker draws explicit comparisons to his own Greek lineage by incorporating his Greek shadow puppetry teacher into the film. The result is structured as a cultural parallel between two distinct but related traditions, using the form of shadow puppetry as the connective thread between Greece and China.