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PRODUCTION Greece

EXCLUSIVE: First look at Syllas Tzoumerkas’ The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea

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- The Greek filmmaker has finished shooting his third feature film, a police drama-thriller that takes place in both urban and rural Greek settings

EXCLUSIVE: First look at Syllas Tzoumerkas’ The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea
Director Syllas Tzoumerkas and his crew on the set of The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea (all photos © Kiki Papadopoulou)

Greek filmmaker Syllas Tzoumerkas has wrapped the shoot for his third feature film, The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
. The movie, which comes three years after his sophomore festival hit, A Blast [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Syllas Tzoumerkas
film profile
]
, and seven after his debut, Homeland [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 (2010), has used both Athens and the west coast of Greece (the scenic deltas of the Acheloos and Arachthos rivers) as its settings.

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The story, which bristles with police drama-thriller tension and also has horror undertones, follows two women: Elisabeth, portrayed by Tzoumerkas regular Angeliki Papoulia (The Lobster [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Yorgos Lanthimos
film profile
]
A Blast), a promiscuous policewoman who sees her life sinking into the abyss of a swampy provincial town; and Rita (played by Youla Boudali, the director’s regular co-screenwriter), a lonely, poor eel-hatchery worker, trapped in the circumstances of her never-changing life. They will discover a striking similarity between them in a bland, heartless world. The rest of the cast comprises Christos Passalis (Dogtooth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Yorgos Lanthimos
film profile
]
Black Field [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Vardis Marinakis
film profile
]
), Maria Filini (A BlastSon of Sofia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elina Psykou
film profile
]
), Argyris XafisThanassis Dovris and Laertis Malkotsis.

The film boasts an all-European crew, starting with Swedish director of photography Petrus Sjövik (Broken Hill Blues [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), German editor Andreas Wodraschke (The Edukators) and Dutch art director Jorien Sont (Zurich [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Kauwboy [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), while Greece’s Marli Aliferi (Suntan [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Argyris Papadimitropoulos
film profile
]
Park [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sofia Exarchou
film profile
]
) designed the costumes. The soundtrack will be a surprise, as orchestral compositions by Swedish composer Jean-Paul Wall (The Island [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
Eastern Plays [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kamen Kalev
film profile
]
) will be blended with Greek alternative group drog_A_tek’s electropunk tunes and oriental pop music by famous Greek pop songwriter Phoebus.

The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea is a Greek-Dutch-German-Swedish co-production by the producer of all of Tzoumerka’s previous feature films, Maria Drandaki (Homemade Films), in co-production with Ellen Havenith (PRPL), Titus Kreyenberg (unafilm), Olle Wirenhed (Dragon Films), Film i Väst and ZDF/ARTE. The film has received the support of the Greek Film CentreFilm und Medienstiftung NRW, the Netherlands Film Fund, the Netherlands Film Production Incentive, the Swedish Film InstituteERT SAEurimages and MEDIA. Polish outfit New Europe Film Sales handles the world sales.

Here are the first exclusive pictures of The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea:


Actress Youla Boudali on set


Actress Angeliki Papoulia on set

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