Rachel Suissa and the Making of Greek Mothers Never Die

Screening Date: September 30th, 2025 @ Carlton Imagine Cinemas


By: Emorphia Margaritis
Rachel Suissa’s Greek Mothers Never Die is a hopeful and uplifting story that blends comedy, drama, and romance, all while mixing in elements of fantasy and music. It's an originally creative story rooted in Greek culture.
The film follows Ella, a young woman who dreams of becoming a singer. However, her overbearing mother, Despina, has been pressuring her to take over the family restaurant — and to find a Greek man. As Ella rebels for her independence, Despina clings to her even more. At its core, the movie explores the relationship between mother and daughter. As the story unfolds, Despina’s sudden death becomes the catalyst for Ella’s transformation — a journey that will teach her how to take control of her life and navigate true love. Along the way, Ella begins to understand the reasoning behind her mother’s ways, growing in compassion and learning how to overcome her mother’s passing.
This story is deeply connected to Rachel Suissa's own experience with her mother and became the driving force behind the film's inspiration. Rachel expressed, “I had an urgency to create the film now.” Her mother was getting older, and Rachel knew she wanted to shoot the film before her own mother, as she put it, “becomes a ghost.” Taking things into her own hands, she stepped into the indie filmmaking world to actualize her vision.
Coming off a Netflix feature, she knew indie filmmaking came with financial limitations — but it also came with control, freedom, and, as Rachel put it, “this maverick spirit of nothing is impossible.” Throughout the film's 17-day shoot, Rachel balanced the leadership of a director, the creativity of a writer, the vulnerability of an actor, and the strategic mindset of a producer.
“All my life I refused to have a plan B. So when you don’t have a plan B, you have to go with intuition and plan A,” she explained, clarifying that “your intuition will be driven by what makes you feel the most alive.” Filming this story under her newly formed production company, R.A.D. Pictures, made her feel just that — alive.
She further explained her solution-oriented mindset: “If you close the door on me, I’ll come in through the window. If you close the window, I’ll enter by the chimney.” This approach proved key when navigating financial challenges. While she acknowledged the production value would be affected, she didn’t see that as “a compromise that hurts, because you’re not compromising on the heart of your story.” That heart — and the desire to tell a story audiences would want to revisit — became her guiding light.
Rachel’s creative process is grounded in connection. “I wanted to honour people’s faith in me,” she said. “I always go for the human connection.” Her sets are built on trust and inclusion, with “an energy built on giving a first chance to everyone.”
Her vision is simple yet powerful: to create films that are entertaining, thought-provoking, uplifting, and heartwarming. But above all, she wants to make films that people want to watch twice — and Greek Mothers Never Die does just that.
Rachel Suissa’s 2025 film will be screened at the Greek International Film Festival during the October program.

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