dubitanda (ever in doubt)

DUBITANDA dot com is an assemblage of THINGS (TO BE) DOUBTED or questioned, deliberated or considered. Fragments – all kinds, sources varied. Never certain but set here with hope.

This is it. The moment of truth. 
Isn’t it wonderful?

Efthimis Filippou & Yorgos Lanthimos

Έφτασε η κρίσιμη στιγμή.
Δεν είναι καταπληκτικό;

Teaser (isn’t it wonderful?) for the 2024 feature film Kinds of Kindness written by Efthimis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos, and directed by the latter.

Screenplay translated from the Greek to be shot in English.

arkhæio
KINDS OF KINDNESS

wandering ⋮ adrift

water / birth / babe / floating with eyes open / without remembrance but with knowledge / DROWNING IN A TEASPOON OF WATER / little one / first in first dive first swim / armbands, grandmas, grandpas / sea pebbles for toys, sea urchins for food / dive under / holding our breath, a contest, counting up / one two three four five six seven eight nine ten and on / water in our ears / two pebbles clacked near eardrums, heads waggled / daddy / dinghy, towel, hugged tight / sea-rinsed peach / brother / bathtub for a homeland, bare in the water / mummy / the water, you and me, us three / out in the rain, mouths open, heads cricked skyward / DROWNING IN A TEASPOON OF WATER / a little later / rivers lakes boats isles riverboats caiques nets masks flippers / dives off high rocks / caves low in said rocks / sea strata / sandy shore and shingle / fishes and frogs / even later / bathtub still a homeland / warm water, on the cusp of sleep / dive under / whole world underwater / no fish live on land nor flowers in sand (this is a song) / tap / morning / hands and eyes and mouth all washed with water / first breath / first life / soap toothpaste / someone waters lemon trees, plants in flower, the vegetable patch / DROWNING IN A TEASPOON OF WATER / water fight summertime water pistols / splashing in fountain in square / black fish in bowl / bad luck / aquarium / a glass of water quick a glass of water / later still / the sea, night / no moon / phytoplankton from phyto and plankton meaning plant and wandering adrift / every move a luminescence / water brims stars, stars fringe body / a wellspring of dreams in actuality / DROWNING IN A TEASPOON OF WATER

Dimitra Kolokytha

νερό / γέννηση / μωρό / επιπλέω και ανοίγω τα μάτια / δεν θυμάμαι αλλά γνωρίζω / ΠΝΙΓΟΜΑΙ ΣΕ ΜΙΑ ΚΟΥΤΑΛΙΑ ΝΕΡΟ / παιδί / η πρώτη βουτιά το πρώτο κολύμπι / μπρατσάκια , γιαγιάδες και παππούδες / οι πέτρες παιχνίδια, οι αχινοί φαγητό / μακροβούτι / κρατάμε την αναπνοή όσο πιο πολύ μπορούμε και μετράμε / ένα, δύο, τρία, τέσσερα, πέντε, έξι, εφτά, οκτώ, εννιά, δέκα… / νερό στα αυτιά / χτυπάμε δυνατά δύο πέτρες κοντά στο αυτιά και κουνάμε το κεφάλι / μπαμπάς / βάρκα φουσκωτή, πετσέτα και αγκαλιά / ροδάκινο πλυμένο στην θάλασσα / αδερφός / η μπανιέρα ο τόπος μας , γυμνοί μέσα στο νερό / μαμά / το νερό, εσύ και εγώ , εμείς / βγαίνουμε έξω στην βροχή και ανοίγουμε το στόμα μας με το κεφάλι προς τον ουρανό / ΠΝΙΓΟΜΑΙ ΣΕ ΜΙΑ ΚΟΥΤΑΛΙΑ ΝΕΡΟ / αργότερα / ποτάμια λίμνες καράβια νησιά ποταμόπλοια καΐκια δίχτυα μάσκες και βατραχοπέδιλα / βουτιά από ψηλά βράχια / σπηλιές μέσα στα βράχια / στρώματα θαλάσσης / άμμος και βότσαλα / ψάρια και βατράχια / λίγο πιο μετά / ν μπανιέρα συνεχίζει να είναι ο τόπος μας / ζεστό νερό, παραλίγο ύπνος / κατάδυση / ο κόσμος κάτω από το νερό / στην στεριά δεν ζει το ψάρι ούτε ο ανθός στην αμμουδιά (τραγούδι) / βρύση / πρωί / πλένω χέρια πλένω μάτια πλένω στόμα πλένω με νερό / η πρώτη αναπνοή / η πρώτη ζωή / σαπούνι οδοντόκρεμα / κάποιος ποτίζει λεμονιές και λουλούδια και λαχανικά / ΠΝΙΓΟΜΑΙ ΣΕ ΜΙΑ ΚΟΥΤΑΛΙΑ ΝΕΡΟ / μπουγέλο καλοκαίρι νεροπίστολα / βουτιά στο σιντριβάνι στην πλατεία / μαύρο ψάρι μες στην γυάλα / γρουσουζιά / ενυδρείο / ένα ποτήρι νερό γρήγορα ένα ποτήρι νερό… / ακόμα πιο μετά / θάλασσα, νύχτα / χωρίς φεγγάρι / φυτοπλαγκτόν «φυτό» και «πλαγκτός» που σημαίνει ταξιδευτής-περιπλανώμενος / κάθε κίνηση και λάμψη / αστέρια μέσα στο νερό ,αστέρια γύρω από το σώμα / πηγή ονείρων στην αλήθεια / ΠΝΙΓΟΜΑΙ ΣΕ ΜΙΑ ΚΟΥΤΑΛΙΑ ΝΕΡΟ

Text written by the actor and artist Dimitra Kolokytha to accompany a final project video she created in 2021 for a diploma in Performance Theory and Practice at the University of Patras (Lifelong Learning Center).

Translated from the Greek in 2025 for the love of it.

Watch Dimitra do anything but drown in these waters (all depths):

arching, arcing, baring, breathing, bubbling, choking, circling, cupping, deepening, departing, disappearing, dipping, diving, dribbling, dripping, exploring, flippering, floating, glittering, leafing, looming, pausing, peering, poking, reflecting, refracting, reaching, resting, rippling, rushing, sculling, seeking, shimmering, sinking, slicing, slipping, smiling, sparkling, staring, stepping, stretching, surfacing, surrendering, swirling, tiptoeing, tumbling, upending, wafting, warping

through her selfhood.

whisper ⋮ waves

Whisper, whispering waves…
I have hope – hope that you know and can tell me:
My life’s one love is way out there, drilling deep for oil
Will he return to me from the sea’s embrace?

I just put our baby to bed
Moonlight streams in silver, bathes her cradle
Send me quiet word of him (how else am I to know?)
Whisper it, whisper, oh waves…

This night goes on (and on), the moon roams far away
A distant breeze sweeps over the Caspian sea-blue
Oh waters, hurry, please… I long for my love
Waves, break the good news (how my heart races!)

Swathes of blue, give my love safe passage
Let him come again, smooth-browed, resplendent
For the sons of Absheron, of our golden land
Oftentimes return in gleaming glory

Whisper, whispering waves…
I have hope – hope that you know and can tell me:
My life’s one love is way out there, drilling deep for oil
Will he return to me from the sea’s embrace?

I just put our baby to bed
Moonlight streams in silver, bathes her cradle
Send me quiet word of him (how else am I to know?)
Whisper it, whisper, oh waves…

An Azerbaijani song sung by Şövkət Ələkbərova

Pıçıldaşın, pıçıldaşın, ləpələr
Bəlkə mənə bir sözünüz var sizin
Buruq qazır mənim ömür yoldaşım
Qayıdırmı qucağından denizin?

Körpemizi yatırmışam indice
Beşiyine Ay nurunu sepeler
Sevgilimden xeber verib gizlice
Pıçıldaşın, pışıldaşın, lepeler

Gece keçir Ay dolanıb üfüqde
Göy Xezerin sinesinde meh esir
Ah tez olun darıxıram, ey sular
Müjde verin seven qelbim telesir

Mavi sular sevgilime yol verin
O qayıtsın alnı açıq üzü ağ
Çünki qızıl Abşeronun oğlunda
Bir adetdir zeferlerle qayıtmaq

Pıçıldaşın, pıçıldaşın, ləpələr
Bəlkə mənə bir sözünüz var sizin
Buruq qazır mənim ömür yoldaşım
Qayıdırmı qucağından denizin?

Körpemizi yatırmışam indice
Beşiyine Ay nurunu sepeler
Sevgilimden xeber verib gizlice
Pıçıldaşın, pışıldaşın, lepeler

Translated for the love of it.

This Azerbaijani song – “Whisper, Waves” [“Pıçıldaşın, Ləpələr”] – was recorded by the legendary singer Şövkət Ələkbərova (1922–1993), likely during the 1960s.

The music is by Andrey Babayev (1923–1964).

The lyrics are by the poet İslam Səfərli (1923–1974).

Discovered during team research for the Opening Ceremony of the First European Games held in Baku, on the shores of the Caspian, in 2015 – that is, for a work titled Origins, conceived and directed by Dimitris Papaioannou (in which this song did not appear, but its beauty is hard to forget. How my heart races!).

The image – snapped on said shores of the Caspian on 13 March 2017 (early afternoon) – slowly fades into full colour from yellow. “Full colour” here means a panoply of greys, with but the faintest bruise of sky-blue breaking through (near the top).

Consider “whisper ⋮ waves” alongside two other dubitanda – “agleam ⋮ bereft” and “listing ⋮ sorrow” – to find three figures calling out to various seas (Aegean, Caspian, otherworldly), aching for loves (child or parent or spouse) beyond reach.

A triptych of longing (via Kitsopoulou and Cavafy and Səfərli):

waiting this whole night through…
one ear listing always to the wind…
whisper it, whisper, oh waves…

These three translations informed one another (you can spot the ways).

worthy ⋮ wait

crack on my back and it’s hard to move
going too fast and I have to prove
I’m worthy
I’m worthy

shaking my ass like a chipmunk
looking at you brings the funk back
are you with me?
you’re with me
you’re with me

hey babe, don’t you wait on me
hey babe, don’t you wait on me
don’t you wait on me

little too much is about to turn
again and again, when am I to learn
pretty baby
my baby

mother ship calls and I’m out the door
my favorite one, how you come for more
how you come
for more
you come for more

hey babe, don’t you wait on me
hey babe, don’t you wait on me
don’t you wait on me

WAIT ON ME by Σtella

A music video (unofficial, unreleased, unearthed).

Bats skim the sky and Parthenon starts to glow as cat watches on (one hopes happy).

Video created for the song “Wait on Me” off Σtella’s debut self-titled album on her Greek label Inner Ear Records in 2015. Rejected, never released.

Music and lyrics by Σtella. Shaking my ass like a chipmunk.

transpolia
A ballad ⋮ beloved.

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