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Τετάρτη 30 Ιανουαρίου 2013

The Mamma Mia movie filmed on Skopelos island



The great and very successful Mamma Mia movie has been filmed on Skopelos island! So most of the scenes from Kalokairi island with the beautiful beaches we have seen in various scenes, have been shot here.

The story in a nutshell: Donna, an independent American lady lives on the island of Kalokairi in Greece with her charming daughter Sophie, running a small hotel that does not do too well. When Sophie wants to marry and even fixed the date, she wants her father to be at her wedding to give her away. And here comes the problem, she does not know who her father is.

When she finds her mother's diary, she discovers, that there are three possible fathers. She secretly invites her mother's admirers from before 20 years. When they really come to visit the secluded island in Greece, the confusion starts.

Should you be thinking of getting married in Greece, you can find useful information on this page provided.

The Mamma Mia soundtrack is a collection of ABBA songs, which everyone knows, tailored to make an incredible match with a romantic story, and a great deal of fun, freedom, strength and summer feeling. I selected two trailers for you of the Mamma Mia movie:


For about three months the production team of Phyllida Lloyd and Judy Craymer has been on Skopelos island to film major parts of the Mamma Mia movie, also in the production team were Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. The big stars were of course the actors Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth walking through the narrow streets of Skopelos town. Our traditional island was just the right place to be found for this so special Mamma Mia movie that will always be enjoyed by so many, dreaming of lovely places and happy ends! The fire, Meryl Streep brings into the Mamma Mia movie, this passion, made me have my head in the clouds for at least 3 days after I had seen it. And imagine, I live on this great island.

The first time they showed the Mamma Mia movie on the island was in our small open air cinema, next door to my souvenir shop that I have in Skopelos town, was my birthday, 3rd of July. What a present! Oh I could never have dreamed of such strong feelings while watching a comedy, it made me love my chosen island even more. I expected the moviemakers to exaggerate, but no, they captured the island's spirit. If you visit Skopelos, you will find so many places and far more, the atmosphere, that will remind you on the Mamma Mia film.

Here is a soundtrack for you from the Mamma Mia movie, recorded at Agios Ioannis:

This is quite an interesting video for me. First of all it is a very strong scene, where one could just fall in love with Meryl Streep and her art of acting.

Second I love it, as it is filmed just opposite of Agios Ioannis, the church on top of the incredible rock close to the village of Glossa, and at the end of the song Donna is running up there, climbing the cobbled steps that I have been running up and down for four entire days as an extra. In the movie you see some people trying to get to the church on top of the cliff, tiny black dots, some with lanterns. That's us.

I never want to miss this few days. Not knowing about the fabulous outcome and with just a vague idea about the story, I enjoyed watching the scenes and just being around all day withabout 50 extras, mostly from the island, and getting the vibes of the film making magic, makeup artists and hair stylists fussing about constantly.
Participating meant getting up early, we met every morning in town when it was still dark, to be transported to Glossa, about 45 minutes from Skopelos town with two buses. For the makeup artists and hair stylists to get all the extras ready for the set and to store all the different cloths we were to wear, they used an olive oil mill. We do not have many big places on the island, that would suit their needs.

Once it rained though, and over night all make up and cloths got soaking wet, as the roof had been leaking all night. What a mess! It was like in an ant hill. So many people suddenly started to participate in collecting the wet cloths, trying to get the hairdryers out of the water, using the few ones that stayed dry on the cloths, so that they could get somehow wearable and we could start our scene at Agios Ioannis.
The days most of the times ended after about 10 hours, there was much waiting involved, hours every day, until we were all ready to be shifted to the set at the rock of Agios Ioannis in small transporters. Waiting time was shortened with loads of food, they really did take care of us. All in all a really great experience at an incredible setting we have been able to enjoy.

As an extra I was just busy for four days, the crew though and many of the actors stayed on the island for longer. Some one said once in an interview in the year after the movie came out, that the locals respectfully tried not to see the celebrities to leave them privacy, until at one point, they really did not see them anymore as special guests so much. The international stars quickly blended in the island's society, from time to time someone told his neighbor "Today Pierce visited my shop", the other said, "That's fine, he is a nice person", a third "Meryl had dinner at my restaurant", and that was it.

There was no hysteria at all. All laid back. Just what you would tell about any other person you care. Once I had a pita at the main square as I saw a group crossing the place with Colin Firth in the middle. I observed the people at the square, and I did not see any strange looks on the faces of the locals, sure everyone is a bit curious and proud to live on a chosen island, but from what I saw, the locals have been especially respectful to the privacy of their guests. If I were a celebrity, I sure would appreciate this attitude.

I am looking forward to watch the Mamma Mia movie again, maybe on my birthday. But now if you want, you could see another short video of the actors and crew chatting after Mamma Mia the movie has been introduced in 2008:

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