Tamama

A Interview with Greek author George Andreadis regarding the book "TAMAMA" one of the thousands of Orphans of Pontos and the creation of the Movie waiting for the clouds, based on his book..

WAITING FOR THE CLOUDS begins while the census clerks arrive early one morning int
the small port town of Trebolu. The streets remain empty and silent. Not everyone can
afford to be counted. Questions about one's past can open up too many wounds.

Ayse lives with her older and ailing sister Selma. Ayse, who never married, has dedicated her life to Selma since she became a widow many years ago. Their years of co-habitation have
created an intense bond between the two sisters. Ayse must now face the harsh reality that she will soon be alone. The mystery of Ayse's tragic past will be divulged through the curious eyes of a charming eight-year-old boy, Mehmet, who shares Ayse's profound loss at the death of Selma.

Ayse's tragedy begins as the unfortunate outcome of historical events: World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire brought about new nationalist waves in Turkey, thus creating
great tensions and conflicts between Greeks and Turks in the Black Sea region.

Waiting For The Glouds makes reference to the human pain of a nearly-forgotten historic incident. In the winter of 1916, the Ottoman Army evacuated the villages west of the recently Russian-occupied Trabzon. In what can be considered to be no less than ethnic cleansing operations, the Greek residents of several villages were pushed out of their homes in an unorganized and paranoid deportation effort.

Ayse's real identity is that of Eleni, the daughter of one of the evacuated Greek families.
When she was 10 years old, Eleni was forced to suffer a seemingly endless march southward through ice and snow with her mother, younger brother and infant sister.
After cold and starvation killed her mother and sister, Eleni bravely pushed on to save
herself and "Niko," her five-year-old brother.

Near death themselves upon their arrival at the outskirts of a faraway village, Eleni and Niko are taken in by a Turkish family. The trauma of young Eleni's brutal experience subsides through the loving bond she establishes with the teenaged Selma.

For some 50 years, Ayse has kept silent about her true identity to protect her status as Selma's sister. Now that her beloved Selma has passed away, Ayse suffers for the forgiveness of her long lost brother Niko.

In Waiting For The Clouds, Ayse's return to Greece will show proof of how irrational
political cruelty can psychologically and mentally displace human lives. Ayse was led to believe that status in Turkey was that of a foreigner. Although born in Turkey, she has
regarded Greece as her native country but she realizes that this was never the case at all,as she now sets foot in Greece for the first time. Waiting For The Clouds raises questions about "who we are" and "where we belong," as it digs deeper into the intrinsic universal
human feelings of love, guilt, fear and sharing.