Orestes Sophocleous is a re-entry undergraduate student at UC Berkeley. He is majoring in Film and Media with a minor in Rhetoric. He is currently a teaching assistant for Film 155, under professor Nicole Starosielski, on film infrastructure. Outside of academia, Orestes has a career as an actor, featured in films such as The End of a Pandemic (2020), A Brave Face (2018), and Committed (2014).
Firstly, I would love to hear you introduce yourself and your main academic interests!
My name is Orestes Sophocleous. I’m Greek originally; I was born there. My background is in art; I trained as a classical actor, graduated from the National Theatre Drama School in Greece, and come from a family of classically trained actors. Since my graduation in 2004, I have been working on stage repertoire, I have done television and radio, and have been acting in films. I arrived in the U.S. in 2015 and started working in the field, but in 2020, when COVID happened, I decided to venture into screenwriting. I started my academic career at Los Angeles Community College, and at the time, I had little knowledge of what U.S. education had to offer. The more I was exposed to different aspects of learning, the more I felt the need to explore and pursue further academic education. I applied to transfer to several four-year programs, and even though I was accepted into an advanced screenwriting program at Cal State Northridge, I turned it down to accept a UC Berkeley offer for the Film and Media major program. During my first semester, I was introduced to rhetoric classes that have me pursue a minor in rhetoric.
Do you have any advice for transfer students?
Berkeley has a lot to offer, especially if you consider that one could choose what subjects they want to explore alongside their major’s core classes. I would advise all students to research thoroughly online what is offered: find out who the professors are, what their background is, and their field of research; understand what subjects and how you would like to combine them: For example, if you're interested in film, consider whether you want to study it alongside subjects like English or perhaps Economics. It's important to understand how the program works and to plan these decisions early, especially considering one has only two years to complete the degree as a transfer student. Preparation is key. I’d like to share my personal experience here as a non-traditional student. At the time of my graduation from the community college, I was skeptical, due to my age, if it was wise to stay in school and see myself graduating at the age of forty-five; I truly believe that my education at Berkeley has changed me as a person and reshaped the way I view the world, something I consider a valuable gift not only as a creative but also as it has opened up the possibility of a career as an academic and a researcher. The time invested in this institution is invaluable.
In your experience, what does research look like in Film and Media?
I feel that research predominantly centers on the media aspect of the major, with comparatively less emphasis placed on the aspect of film. We live at a time of proliferated mediation, a topic that we only recently started to explore comprehensively. The Film degree is heavy on theory and critical analysis due to the nature of academic inquiry, which tends not to involve innovations in camera technology or advancements in film equipment, etc. For those of us interested in delving deeper into film from a historical or humanities perspective, there are numerous compelling questions to consider. How does contemporary cinema impact local communities? What narratives and materials are being produced, and what effects do they have on contemporary society? Historical paradigms of how cinema was utilized over the decades and in different geopolitical geographies of the world; Indeed, there is an abundance of avenues to traverse contemplating where the medium is right now and where its future lies.
Currently, serving as a teaching assistant for Film 155, under professor Nicole Starosielski — a course dedicated to exploring media infrastructure, as in the physical structures and locations that make our digital life possible- I have discovered how broad media research can be. This area is rich in research opportunities, especially given its significance in contemporary innovative technological, socio-economic, and climate discourses. Our current day-to-day experience is shaped by questions asked in this type of research: What are the ramifications of information control? What does it signify when one entity possesses your data? Inquiries that resonate within the broader implications of a globalized economy. Essentially, one can decide how to invest their research time in any possible direction they choose.
Film and Media can vary in approach – from analytical, historical, or critical. Do you have a preferred methodology? What do you think you have gained from the interdisciplinary nature of this major?
I would say all approaches are needed for the different insights and perspectives they offer. History, for instance, helps us understand how and why the medium was born and how it progressed. It’s so different to imagine how moving pictures worked as a novelty and a curiosity at a time when this type of reality representation happened for the first time, compared to the way remediation offers a much more complex and layered version of representation in contemporary cinema emanating from our digitally lived experiences. This greatly influences our perspective and understanding of the filmic art and its creation. Since we are often disconnected from our natural environment, exploring its history provides valuable insights into how art has evolved to its current form alongside our social evolution as technological beings.
The critical aspect of it is that there is no understanding of any subject without its critical analysis. Berkeley is amazing in that regard, as we are given the theory and the critical tools to better explore the medium: texts on critical race theory, post-colonialism, feminism, and posthumanism offer different avenues to exploring the art, and recognise the different type of discourse cinema is currently, or at any other time in history, involved in.
The analytical perspective is very important not only for academics but also for screenwriters, directors, etc. Most audiences, when they consume cinema, see a formalistic outcome – a final product. A final product communicates information different from that of a close reading and analysis. Analysis can help me better understand how different elements come together to create film with intention and meaning; It means reverse engineering all the nuances that make storytelling through film possible, allowing me to infuse more depth into my own creations. No matter what you choose to become, whether it is a screenwriter, a director, or an academic, any of the above approaches is critical in forming an identity through a deep comprehension of the medium, offering the potential to push film to different directions.
Can you speak a bit on your experience as a re-entry student? How has your professional experience influenced your studies? Do you have advice for students on a similar trajectory?
Being an artist is very different from being a student. As an artist, I needed to find ways to express myself and build and present the experience of another human being through my emotions and my body. Being a student is a very different experience; the process is more of deep thinking, understanding, and analysis. It is constructed through multitudes of viewpoints, resulting in deeper knowledge of the discipline. To an artist, the point of view is singular; it is an interpretation, but in the lecture room, you build a structure of knowledge that can become a substantial point of departure for further growth and development, firstly as a person and then as an artist or academic. I would say that it is important to understand that the disciplines are very different; the discourse they offer is very different, and so one shouldn’t let their previous experience become a hurdle in adopting another point of view—if anything, the two disciplines should act complementary to one another. It better suits me when I don’t allow my past to inform my present learning experience, and I think that’s a more productive and fun way to approach education.
What book would you recommend to everyone reading this interview?
“The Axion Esti” by Odysseas Elytes, which is poetry.