THE SISTERS KARRAS
Family. Legacy. Success. And Greek textiles.
Two estranged half-sisters form a complicated bond as they work together to retrieve their rare and precious inheritance, which their late father inexplicably leaves to the mysterious Marco.
FILM SYNOPSIS
HELEN KARRAS is a driven, highly independent and brilliant owner of an antique textile boutique in the East Village. Determined to succeed in a byzantine industry dominated by older dealers, all men, Helen seizes on an unexpected opportunity to sell a rare Ionian toulitiko rug to one of New York’s most coveted and prestigious collectors.
But first she has to find one.
If Helen manages to locate an authentic antique toulitiko, her professional future is assured. While Helen frantically searches for a toulitiko rug, she receives news that her estranged father, who had been living in a monastery in Greece, has died. There is to be a reading of the will.
At the reading, Helen meets her half-sister MARIA for the first time. Maria, eight years younger than Helen, is her opposite: a quirky, patient costume designer, who desperately wants a relationship with her big sister, Helen.
But Helen is soon too distracted by professional developments to focus on getting to know her sister. The lawyer informs the sisters they are to share their inheritance: one half of a precious, antique toulitiko rug. This is potentially great news for Helen.
Unfortunately, the other half of the rug goes to MARCO, a mysterious art dealer who manages to leave the reading before the sisters can confront him. Helen knows she’s halfway to her goal. All she needs to do is convince Marco to part with his half of the toulitiko and then convince her sister selling their heirloom is the best course of action.
Helen does not want to have to consider doing something against her sister’s will. As Helen and Maria deal with the formidable Marco who is unwilling to part with his fragment, the sisters grow close, move in together and develop a rapid and delightful sisterly bond.
When Helen finally gets her hands on the entire toulitiko, she faces her ultimate dilemma: Keep the rug as her sister wishes, or, sell it, securing her professional future, but betraying the sister she never had, but now realizes she loves.
Director's Statement
They say there’s nothing as important as family. But people say all sorts of things.
“The Sisters Karras” is about the things that matter. Family. Belonging.
It is also about the need to make something of yourself.
Sometimes these things overlap. In my experience, they often are travelling in opposite directions.
I’ve spent the majority of my life admiring my family from afar. Most of my family lives in the US, but I grew up in Greece. I loved visiting them. My aunt would buy me Happy Meals. There were no Happy Meals in Greece. As I grew older, I noticed the truth of whispered sentiments not meant for my ears, “Uncle you-know-who is rich, but stingy,” “Aunt so-and-so can’t get her life together,” “My cousin is a real you-know-what” and on and on.
Into this sentimentally acerbic mix enter Helen and Maria Karras: two half-sisters whose gem of a father left them both when they were eight, eight years apart. They never really knew him. And now they have to get to know each other.
Is family the most important thing? How important? This is Helen’s central dilemma, and a question she discovers has no easy answer.
I love to watch people struggle with forces they are powerless to control. Two of my favorite filmmakers are Michael Mann and Nora Ephron. Both seem to be investigating a similar dilemma: the conflicting desires for isolation and connection.
“The Sisters Karras” is my first feature film.
You’ll still love your family at the end. I promise. Maybe even a little more.
Micah Stathis
