Willa, Astrakan Film and Cold Iron Pictures are set to join Argonauts Productions to produce “The Boy With the Light Blue Eyes,” a coming-of-age queer Greek tragedy.
Written by Thanasis Neofotistos and Grigoris Skarakis, and to be directed by Neofotistos as his debut feature, “The Boy With the Light Blue Eyes” follows teenager Peter as he navigates the suffocating confines of his superstitious and traditional Greek village community.
Peter is born with light blue eyes in a village that considers them a threat, but only his mother knows. She decides to cover their color with a mask at all times, claiming a threatening eye condition. In this blissful ignorance, Peter and his best friend Aemon embark on an adventure through which Peter learns the painful truth about his eyes and the lies he has been told.
The project participated in Cannes Focus CoPro, and the script has been developed through the Mediterranean Film Institute,...
Written by Thanasis Neofotistos and Grigoris Skarakis, and to be directed by Neofotistos as his debut feature, “The Boy With the Light Blue Eyes” follows teenager Peter as he navigates the suffocating confines of his superstitious and traditional Greek village community.
Peter is born with light blue eyes in a village that considers them a threat, but only his mother knows. She decides to cover their color with a mask at all times, claiming a threatening eye condition. In this blissful ignorance, Peter and his best friend Aemon embark on an adventure through which Peter learns the painful truth about his eyes and the lies he has been told.
The project participated in Cannes Focus CoPro, and the script has been developed through the Mediterranean Film Institute,...
- 1/23/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, an annual showcase that brings films and filmmakers from Greece, Cyprus and other countries in the region to the United States, announced the winners of its 2023 Orpheus Awards at a ceremony on Sunday night at the Silver Screen Theatre in the Pacific Design Center.
Toplining the honors: “Listen,” directed by Maria Douza, which won for best fiction feature film. “Iman,” helmed Corina Avramidou and Kyriakos Tofarides, took home the special jury award for best film, and Panos Koutras won the best director award for “Dodo.”
Spiros Jacovides won an honorable mention for best director for “Black Stone,” and Efthalia Papacosta was awarded the best performance trophy for “Listen.” “Black Stone” also won the audience award for feature film, and an honorable mention for best performance went to Stephanie Atala for “Iman.”
“Listen” centers on a 16-year-old deaf girl forced to leave her progressive Athens...
Toplining the honors: “Listen,” directed by Maria Douza, which won for best fiction feature film. “Iman,” helmed Corina Avramidou and Kyriakos Tofarides, took home the special jury award for best film, and Panos Koutras won the best director award for “Dodo.”
Spiros Jacovides won an honorable mention for best director for “Black Stone,” and Efthalia Papacosta was awarded the best performance trophy for “Listen.” “Black Stone” also won the audience award for feature film, and an honorable mention for best performance went to Stephanie Atala for “Iman.”
“Listen” centers on a 16-year-old deaf girl forced to leave her progressive Athens...
- 6/12/2023
- by Peter Caranicas
- Variety Film + TV
After 11 days and over 200 films, Toronto International Film Festival finally came to a close on Sunday. On the ground, much of the buzz seemed geared towards upcoming fall releases, like “Glass Onion: Knives Out”, “The Fabelmans”, “The Woman King”, and “Pearl.” TIFF juries seemed to think otherwise, however. Independent productions have taken home most of the awards, with a good half of them being Asian identifying filmmakers took home near half of the awards. Of these, at least 25 percent identify as Asian Canadian, and at least three do not identify as cisgender male. The range has also been notable. With productions ranging from Mongolia (“Snow in September”) to Palestine (“A Gaza Weekend”), from sleepy towns in Canada (“Riceboy Sleeps”) to film sets in the Philippines (“Leonor Will Never Die”), the list of movies reveals the sheer diversity in the continent of Asia – and all the diasporas accompanying it.
But without further ado,...
But without further ado,...
- 9/21/2022
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” has won the 2022 TIFF People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced at an awards breakfast on Sunday in Toronto.
Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” took the first runner-up slot, while Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” was the second runner-up.
The People’s Choice Documentary award went to Hubert Davis’ hockey doc “Black Ice,” while the Midnight Madness award was won by Eric Appel’s entirely fake rock biopic “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.”
Also Read:
‘The Fabelmans’ Film Review: Steven Spielberg’s Sweet Memory Piece Picks Up Steam as It Goes
In a year with an abundance of high-profile, crowd-pleasing movies in the TIFF lineup, other films in competition for the award included Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” Florian Zeller’s “The Son,” Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King,...
Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” took the first runner-up slot, while Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” was the second runner-up.
The People’s Choice Documentary award went to Hubert Davis’ hockey doc “Black Ice,” while the Midnight Madness award was won by Eric Appel’s entirely fake rock biopic “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.”
Also Read:
‘The Fabelmans’ Film Review: Steven Spielberg’s Sweet Memory Piece Picks Up Steam as It Goes
In a year with an abundance of high-profile, crowd-pleasing movies in the TIFF lineup, other films in competition for the award included Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” Florian Zeller’s “The Son,” Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King,...
- 9/18/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The Toronto International Film Festival, like most other festivals this year, returns with a post-pandemic mindset: a primarily in-person event with an overall line-up closer to their numbers before 2020. Their Short Cuts programme remains smaller for the time being, with only 39 selections across its six line-ups (compared to 55 in 2019), but programmer Jason Anderson has put together a diverse series across multiple forms and genres.
Here are ten shorts that constitute some of the strongest works in a generally impressive lineup.
Airhostess-737 (Thanasis Neofotistos)
In Airhostess-737, flight attendant Vanina (Lena Papaligoura) finds herself stressed on what should be a routine flight, only to find her sense of reality slip away as she confronts what’s really making her so anxious. Director Thanasis Neofotistos opens his film by stating it was “conceived in a dream,” and part of the movie’s fun is how he piles on the surrealism as we get to know more about Vanina.
Here are ten shorts that constitute some of the strongest works in a generally impressive lineup.
Airhostess-737 (Thanasis Neofotistos)
In Airhostess-737, flight attendant Vanina (Lena Papaligoura) finds herself stressed on what should be a routine flight, only to find her sense of reality slip away as she confronts what’s really making her so anxious. Director Thanasis Neofotistos opens his film by stating it was “conceived in a dream,” and part of the movie’s fun is how he piles on the surrealism as we get to know more about Vanina.
- 9/6/2022
- by C.J. Prince
- The Film Stage
Toronto International Film Festival has revealed its Short Cuts lineup, featuring 39 live-action narrative, documentary, and animated shorts films from 18 countries.
Presented by TikTok, the program represents a blend of returning filmmakers and newcomers. Alice Rohrwacher’s “Le Pupille,” co-produced by Alfonso Cuarón, will make its Canadian premiere at the festival. Honor Swinton Byrne of “The Souvenir,” which screened at TIFF in 2018, stars in Hazel McKibbin’s “She Always Wins.” Actor Kiawentiio of 2020 TIFF awardee “Beans” is back, this time in Asia Youngman’s “N’xaxaitkw.” Other TIFF alum with new shorts in the program are Sarah McCarthy, Mbithi Masya, Matthew Rankin, Carol Nguyen, Karen Chapman, and Sophy Romvari.
Award-winning animated shorts that made the cut include “The Flying Sailor” and “Ice Merchants.” On the documentary side, “Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles” by Ukrainian director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, “Anastasia” by Sarah McCarthy of the U.K., and “Quiet Minds Silent Streets” by Toronto...
Presented by TikTok, the program represents a blend of returning filmmakers and newcomers. Alice Rohrwacher’s “Le Pupille,” co-produced by Alfonso Cuarón, will make its Canadian premiere at the festival. Honor Swinton Byrne of “The Souvenir,” which screened at TIFF in 2018, stars in Hazel McKibbin’s “She Always Wins.” Actor Kiawentiio of 2020 TIFF awardee “Beans” is back, this time in Asia Youngman’s “N’xaxaitkw.” Other TIFF alum with new shorts in the program are Sarah McCarthy, Mbithi Masya, Matthew Rankin, Carol Nguyen, Karen Chapman, and Sophy Romvari.
Award-winning animated shorts that made the cut include “The Flying Sailor” and “Ice Merchants.” On the documentary side, “Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles” by Ukrainian director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, “Anastasia” by Sarah McCarthy of the U.K., and “Quiet Minds Silent Streets” by Toronto...
- 8/17/2022
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
New films from Tribeca prize winner Elina Psykou, Sarajevo winner Nikola Ležaić and the producers behind the upcoming Venice Horizons premiere “The Happiest Man in the World” are among the projects selected for the Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Co-Production Market, the leading financing forum in Southeast Europe.
This year marks the 20th edition of the influential co-production market, which has launched films such as László Nemes’ Academy Award winner “Son of Saul,” Adina Pintilie’s Golden Bear winner “Touch Me Not” and Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov’s Oscar nominee “Honeyland.” Nine new feature film projects from the region currently in development will be presented to industry guests, along with seven new dramatic series in the event’s Drama strand.
The carefully curated selection is among the smallest for a major regional market. That allows the organizers to begin working with the chosen filmmakers months in advance, employing script...
This year marks the 20th edition of the influential co-production market, which has launched films such as László Nemes’ Academy Award winner “Son of Saul,” Adina Pintilie’s Golden Bear winner “Touch Me Not” and Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov’s Oscar nominee “Honeyland.” Nine new feature film projects from the region currently in development will be presented to industry guests, along with seven new dramatic series in the event’s Drama strand.
The carefully curated selection is among the smallest for a major regional market. That allows the organizers to begin working with the chosen filmmakers months in advance, employing script...
- 8/14/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Returning for its milestone 75th edition, Locarno Film Festival has now unveiled its full lineup. Taking place from August 3 through 13th, the selection includes Helena Wittmann’s Human Flowers of Flesh, Jean-Paul Civeyrac’s Une femme de notre temps, Aleksandr Sokurov’s Fairytale, Patricia Mazuy’s Bowling Saturne, Abbas Fahdel’s Tales of the Purple House, Ana Vaz’s It Is Night In America, Leon Prudovsky’s My Neighbor Adolf, a massive Douglas Sirk retrospective, and much more.
“The selection of films that we have put together, after watching and appraising over 3,000 titles (of every length and format), is intended to be the mark of a time and of a cinema in motion,” Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro said. “A historic time that is moving in multiple directions simultaneously, and a cinema that is probing the issues facing the world, and how to live in it re- sponsibly, sustainably. The...
“The selection of films that we have put together, after watching and appraising over 3,000 titles (of every length and format), is intended to be the mark of a time and of a cinema in motion,” Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro said. “A historic time that is moving in multiple directions simultaneously, and a cinema that is probing the issues facing the world, and how to live in it re- sponsibly, sustainably. The...
- 7/6/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
New Female Voices CineLink Award worth €10,000 launched this year.
The Sarajevo film festival (August 12-19) has revealed the nine feature projects and seven drama series from Southeast Europe that will take part in its Co-Production Market running as part of the CineLink industry Days.
This year the festival has also launched the Female Voices CineLink Award, worth €10,000 and presented by the Slovenian Film Centre, for one participating project in the market.
The selected projects include Hear The Yellow directed by Banu Sivaci, whose first film The Pigeon played in Generation 14plus strand at the 2018 Berlinale; and Patrimonial Fears And Other Symptoms from Elina Psykou,...
The Sarajevo film festival (August 12-19) has revealed the nine feature projects and seven drama series from Southeast Europe that will take part in its Co-Production Market running as part of the CineLink industry Days.
This year the festival has also launched the Female Voices CineLink Award, worth €10,000 and presented by the Slovenian Film Centre, for one participating project in the market.
The selected projects include Hear The Yellow directed by Banu Sivaci, whose first film The Pigeon played in Generation 14plus strand at the 2018 Berlinale; and Patrimonial Fears And Other Symptoms from Elina Psykou,...
- 6/9/2022
- by Melissa Kasule
- ScreenDaily
European Film Promotion has been playing host at the Cannes Film Festival to 20 up-and-coming European producers, selected for its Producers on the Move program. Variety invited the producers to share details of their upcoming projects.
Maarten Schmidt, Belgium
Project: “Under the Surface”
Director: Guido Verelst
Anne, born premature, has Asperger’s and wants nothing more than to be able to live underwater as a mermaid. But she has to learn how to live independently above the surface with her new boyfriend.
Katya Trichkova, Bulgaria
Project: “Gambit”
Writers: Konstantin Bojanov and Petar Krumov
Director: Konstantin Bojanov
Nina, a criminally minded young woman, spots a weakness in the security system of an art museum and concocts a plan to rob it. Soon, however, she finds herself caught between her desire to cash in on the bounty and her deepening feelings for her lover Philip, whom the police unjustly accuse of being part of the heist.
Maarten Schmidt, Belgium
Project: “Under the Surface”
Director: Guido Verelst
Anne, born premature, has Asperger’s and wants nothing more than to be able to live underwater as a mermaid. But she has to learn how to live independently above the surface with her new boyfriend.
Katya Trichkova, Bulgaria
Project: “Gambit”
Writers: Konstantin Bojanov and Petar Krumov
Director: Konstantin Bojanov
Nina, a criminally minded young woman, spots a weakness in the security system of an art museum and concocts a plan to rob it. Soon, however, she finds herself caught between her desire to cash in on the bounty and her deepening feelings for her lover Philip, whom the police unjustly accuse of being part of the heist.
- 5/26/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
For the latest edition of Focus Copro’, an event launched in 2018 by the Cannes Court Métrage Rendez-vous Industry program to give a boost to first-time feature directors, the organizing team decided to give the event a reboot, scrapping the formal pitches and giving the selected filmmakers a chance to mingle and network in a more casual setting.
After a breezy lunch at Cannes’ Carlton Beach on May 23, the Rendez-vous Industry team described the event as “a great moment to discover and meet these renowned talented filmmakers and producers, who already have an impact on today’s cinema and will confirm their artistic vision with their first feature.”
Among the industry professionals who joined the up-and-coming filmmakers were not only respected producers and sales agents, but a range of reps from leading co-production markets, labs, residencies, workshops and institutions focused on identifying and nurturing emerging talent.
“We noticed since a few...
After a breezy lunch at Cannes’ Carlton Beach on May 23, the Rendez-vous Industry team described the event as “a great moment to discover and meet these renowned talented filmmakers and producers, who already have an impact on today’s cinema and will confirm their artistic vision with their first feature.”
Among the industry professionals who joined the up-and-coming filmmakers were not only respected producers and sales agents, but a range of reps from leading co-production markets, labs, residencies, workshops and institutions focused on identifying and nurturing emerging talent.
“We noticed since a few...
- 5/24/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
From the opening night film through the Orpheus Awards, which will close the event on June 9, women are front and center at the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, taking place this week at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.
Fest opener “Meltem,” a feature directed by Greek-French helmer Basile Doganis, examines the refugee crisis through the eyes of a young woman played by Daphne Patakia (pictured above). And opening night short “Patision Avenue,” directed by Thanasis Neofotistos, looks at a day in the life of a young mother in Athens.
Another feature screening at the fest, “Pause,” helmed by Cypriot director Tonia Mishiali, explores the margins of femininity as the heroine defies expectations and stereotypes.
“I Am Mackenzie,” an American short by Artemis Anastasiadou, tells the coming-of-age story of a teenage girl growing up in rural Texas. And short “37 Days,” from Nikoleta Leousi, tackles themes of pregnancy and the right to work.
Fest opener “Meltem,” a feature directed by Greek-French helmer Basile Doganis, examines the refugee crisis through the eyes of a young woman played by Daphne Patakia (pictured above). And opening night short “Patision Avenue,” directed by Thanasis Neofotistos, looks at a day in the life of a young mother in Athens.
Another feature screening at the fest, “Pause,” helmed by Cypriot director Tonia Mishiali, explores the margins of femininity as the heroine defies expectations and stereotypes.
“I Am Mackenzie,” an American short by Artemis Anastasiadou, tells the coming-of-age story of a teenage girl growing up in rural Texas. And short “37 Days,” from Nikoleta Leousi, tackles themes of pregnancy and the right to work.
- 6/5/2019
- by Peter Caranicas
- Variety Film + TV
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