05/02/2015 - The newly minted sales outfit that sprang out of Greek production house Heretic will be handling Tudor Giurgiu’s Panorama entry Why Me?

“The Berlinale’s EFM is going to be our first major market, and we are very proud to be there with such a strong film,” states Ioanna Stais, head of festivals and sales at the newly minted sales agent Heretic Outreach, the first outfit of its kind in Greece to have sprung out of another firm. “Why Me? [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tudor Giurgiu
film profile] is a political film that tells a visceral tale of state corruption versus personal integrity,” Stais goes on, noting, “We are certain that such a story and such themes will resonate strongly with audiences in many parts of the world.”

Based on true events and focusing on an aspiring and idealistic prosecutor who struggles against state corruption, this co-production between Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary is Tudor Giurgiu’s third feature film, and his first to make it into a major European festival. Presented as a Special Screening within the Panorama programme, it will be the only film that Heretic Outreach will be showcasing at the festival’s screenings, though the company will have a wider slate at the EFM.

Margarita Manda’s sophomore feature, Forever [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which is currently getting a strong limited release in Greece, will be the firm’s sole Greek title at the European Film Market, where it will also be handling Marinus Groothof’s feature debut, The Sky Above Us [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Netherlands, Serbia, Belgium and Greece). Both films had their premieres at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and were co-produced by Konstantinos Kontovrakis for Heretic.

Heretic Outreach was founded by Heretic heads Giorgos Karnavas and Konstantinos Kontovrakis last autumn, and its creation was announced during the 2014 Thessaloniki International Film Festival. It is part of the local production house Heretic, which, over the past few years, has produced such festival darlings as the Berlinale Forum entry The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elina Psykou
film profile], the Karlovy Vary contender Boy Eating the Bird’s Food [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and the Toronto-screened Standing Aside, Watching [+see also:
trailer
film profile].