Greek productions set to screen at Toronto International Film Festival
Ten Greek films will be screened this month in Toronto as part of the city’s International Film Festival (TIFF), with the support of the Greek Film Center and Dimitris Eipidis, who is director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and international program chief at TIFF. The festival gets under way tomorrow and runs through September 15.
Penny Panayotopoulou’s feature-length film “September” tells the story of Anna, a 30-year-old woman who lives alone with her dog. A melancholic film about new beginnings, Anna is content with her life until her dog dies, sending her into a spiral of solitude and confusion.
“Wasted Youth,” an award-nominated drama by Argyris Papadimitropoulos, tells a fictional tale inspired by the true story of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, the teenager who was shot dead by a policeman in the Exarchia neighborhood of Athens in 2008. The film explores the concepts of wasted youth and the anxiety many Greeks face because of financial troubles.
The action-packed drama “JACE,” produced in 2011 by director Menelaos Karamaghiolis, follows the young, orphaned protagonist as he flees a violent past. Witness to his mother’s brutal murder, Jace, an Albanian boy of Greek origin, keeps falling into the hands of violent gangsters, who end up smuggling him to Athens.
Yannis Sakaridis’s film “Wild Duck” tells the story of Dimitris, an indebted telecommunications engineer who is forced to shut down his business. Desperate for a job, Dimitris accepts an offer from his friend Nikos. But it’s not long before the two friends find themselves entrenched in a scandal.
Award-winning director Alexandros Avranas’s second film, “Miss Violence,” focuses on the suicide of an 11-year-old girl. The mystery drama stars Themis Panou, Rena Pittaki and Eleni Roussinou, and recently met with critical acclaim in Venice.
“The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas,” directed by Elina Psykou, follows an aging talk show host who stages his own kidnapping in a bid to make a striking comeback and pay off his debts. The cast is led by Christos Stergioglou, Maria Kallimani, Giorgos Souxes and Theodora Tzimou.
Christina Koutsospyrou and Aran Hughes’s film “To the Wolf” tells the nonfiction story of a family of shepherds living in poverty in an isolated Greek village. The film attempts to convey what happens to ancestral villages after their young people leave for urban centers.
Yorgos Servetas returns with another film, titled “Standing Aside, Watching.” The drama tells the story of a young heroine, Antigone, who returns to her hometown in the Greek provinces. In an effort to reconnect with her past, Antigone turns the quiet town upside down.
Award-winning director Filippos Tsitos’s film “Unfair World” is a black comedy about a 60-year-old police officer named Sotiris, played by award-winning actor Antonis Kafetzopoulos. Cash-strapped Sotiris is fed up with his job, and embarks on an ambitious scheme which results in the death of a corrupt security guard.
Thanos Anastopoulos is back with his third film, “The Daughter,” a drama about a 14-year-old girl who kidnaps an 8-year-old boy in revenge for her father’s bankruptcy. The thriller explores the financial crisis’s psychological tolls felt by the young schoolgirl, Myrto.
For more on the Toronto International Film Festival, log on to tiff.net.
