Ammos 1996 -

A different look

When Nikos Tsepetis, owner of the seaside hotel Ammos in Crete, was asked how he planned to celebrate 30 years of running the hotel he opened himself back in 1996 at the age of 25, he would always give an ironic shrug — “Who wants to celebrate getting that old?”
But Ammos isn’t just any hotel. This small resort has a strong following of devoted return guests. And people kept asking. “Maybe a book”, someone suggested? “A book with photos from the past?”, Nikos wasn’t thrilled by that idea either.

Then his close friend, graphic designer Stavros Bilionis (founder of Ogust Studio in Athens), suggested making a film. For the first time, Nikos’ eyes lit up. He had secretly dreamed of becoming a director — he even took a crash course at the New York Film Academy in Union Square back in the ’90s — so a short film felt like the perfect way to mark the milestone.

He asked another old friend, Efthimis Filippou (among others, the screenwriter behind most of Yorgos Lanthimos’ films) to contribute words and American photographer Douglas Everleigh to be the cinematographer. The film was shot in May 2025 over two cloudy days, resulting in a nostalgic, even melancholic narration — punctuated by the immersive music composed by musician Ody Icons and the subtle editing of Tilemahos Katsigiannis.