MATI
This story is an intimate exploration that follows the director’s personal connection to the evil eye and what it means to her and her grandmother, who are both Greek Orthodox, and explores it through Indian Hinduism and Spirituality aswell. Mati emulates warmth and celebration of 3 cultures differences and similarities through the belief of the evil eye. This is the embodiment that culture is what makes us human.

Mati Logo

​

Meet the Subjects
​

Vicki Davilis with the director

Vicki Davilis

Chandrasekaran with the m.u.a

Chandrasekaran

Tiana Moretti with the m.u.a

Tiana Moretti

​Behind The Scenes

​The Team
​

Alexandra Hofman
Hi everyone! My name is Alexandra Hofman, I am the Director and Co-Producer of Mati. I am a 3rd generation Greek and I am blessed to have grown up in a household where my mother’s parents; my yiayia (grandma) and papou (grandpa) lived with me and helped raise me. They've always had such an impact on my culture, religion and who I am as a person. Growing up, the evil eye has always been such an important part of our culture. I find it fascinating that I spent most of my life thinking that the evil eye was strictly a Greek belief and that people who wore evil eye jewelry were aware of it and wanted to join in. However, when I learned that this is a widespread belief across multiple cultures, it intrigued me. I spoke with friends from different cultures and religions to hear their experiences with the evil eye and learned that different cultures have different rituals to cleanse the evil eye. I can't wait to share this short documentary that explores the evil eye and it's representation in different cultures

Holly De Vaal
My name is ​Holly De Vaal and I'm the producer on the short form Documentary, MATI. As a longtime skeptic, I had little to no knowledge on the evil eye and its significance across cultures and religions. While making this film, I discovered that the evil eye is not only about where it originated and what it means - but how it makes you feel. There was a stillness in the air throughout all the different cleansing rituals, and you could feel a sense of security in the room. I have no real attachments to religion or the evil eye itself - but I can now say that I've witnessed its power and beauty.

Tiana Moretti
Hi! My names Tiana Moretti and I’m the director of photography for Mati. The evil eye is something I believed in as a little girl. My backgrounds Italian and my Nonno had a red pepper (cornicello) charm on his watch and in his car to protect against the Malocchio (evil eye). As I grew I developed my own spiritual practice to protect myself from receiving negative energy and how to project a more positive frequency instead. Shooting this documentary was such a beautiful experience, I’m so grateful to have connected with people from other cultures who share the same beliefs but practice in different ways. It truly shows that although every culture is different, a communality is the beauty all cultures share and the passion that goes behind practicing ones religion. I hope our viewers share this experience as well.

Keqi Zhao
My name is Keqi Zhao, I'm editor for our excellent doc MATI. I am atheist so before I join to our crew I had no idea what MATI was. BUT NOW, I happy to learn new things through our doc. Happy to have a chance to know all of our crew members and working with this amazing people.

Kaitlin Manalili
Hi, I’m Kaitlin Manalili and I’m the assistant editor of Mati. Prior to this documentary I had heard of the evil eye, although, I never really knew much about it. Being a part of this project, I’m grateful to have gotten the chance to learn about the evil eye across three different cultures and to feel immersed in its power

Cameron Coddington
My name is Cameron Coddington and I'm the location sound mixer / boom op for MATI. I personally have no real connections to the idea of the Evil Eye nor to any of the religions that observe it, but I can say it was super fun working on this film

Erik Knuff 
Hey I’m Erik and I’m the sound mixer and editor on Mati. Personally I’m not religious but I admire when people use it to give their lives purpose and as a catalyst for good. I’m proud to be part of the team!

Gabriella Bourduas 
Hey I’m Gabriella and I was the Camera B Operator on Mati. Previously, I have always found the topic on the evil eye to be very intriguing. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to meet and share experiences with people who share beliefs on the Evil eye! This project was truly an eye opening experience, I’m so proud to be part of such an amazing team.

 Arshia Prajapati 
Hiii everyone my name is Arshia Prajapati and I am a P.A on Mati. Growing up in a Hindu household, I’ve always believed in the evil eye especially because of how significant the concept of protection against the evil eye is in my culture. Every time I would get sick without a reason or have bad luck immediately after an achievement, my mom would blame it on someone casting an evil eye on me and would do a ritual to cleanse the negative energy off of me. Now both my mom and I have an evil eye tattoo whereby we both believe if focused on with the right intention, should definitely help cast away negative energy. I am excited for everyone to learn more through this magnificent film.

Lyla Awan
Helloo I’m Lyla and in the transmedia producer and BTS photographer for Mati! Growing up muslim I always hear about the evil eye or nazar and was aware about the effects it had. I had so much fun working on this documentary and am so excited for everyone to see this documentary and learn more about the evil eye through different religions/cultures! 

Bethany Harrison 
My name’s Bethany and I’m the music composer for the film, Mati. Up until the last few years I wasn’t aware of the evil eye or it’s origins, but since meeting my best friend and her family I had become more aware of it and the beliefs around it. I find the fact that it is revered and regarded in multiple cultures and religions to be fascinating, and am honoured to be a part of a project that delves into that more.

Reshmi/Luka
Haiiii I'm Reshmi and Luka, I’m gender fluid so I have 2 names. I am the makeup artist and a minor subject in this documentary. I’m Hindu and I’ve always believed in the evil eye and grew up with it being something we should be mindful and be aware about. It was also really fun doing this documentary with my uncle whom was so helpful and agreed to help us out with. I learnt a lot about the evil eye from him growing up and I hope you all do too.

---