29/07/2010

The Greeks will have a lot to root for at this year’s Venice Film Festival (September 1-11), as a triplet of local features – Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Attenberg, Syllas Tzoumerkas’ Homeland and Philippos Tsitos’ Plato’s Academy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Constantin Moriatis
interview: Filippos Tsitos
interview: Filippos Tsitos
film profile] – will be presented at the season’s first major festival, as well as Yorgos Zois’ short racial drama Casus Belli.

After co-founding and directing the Cinematexas International Short Film Festival, and earning a spot on the 2002 Village Voice Film Poll for feature debut The Slow Business of Going, Tsangari returned to Greece to produce Yorgos Lanthimos’ debut, Kinetta, as well as his Un Certain Regard winner Dogtooth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Yorgos Lanthimos
film profile]. And prepare her sophomore project Attenberg, which will participate in the festival’s Official Selection.

Dubbed a modern-day urban western, the drama revolves around a young girl who is raised by her architect father in the sterile environment of an experimental city.

Tzoumerkas, who has a highly promising past in short films, will be presenting his debut feature in Critics’ Week (see news). Homeland is the story of vicious fighting among three generations of a contemporary Greek family, set off by the prospect of an in-family adoption.

Plato’s Academy, which has been on a roll since winning the acting award for Antonis Kafetzopoulos at last summer’s Locarno Film Festival, was a hit at the local box office, gathering over 50,000 admissions to go along with its critical acclaim. The film also snagged four nominations at the Hellenic Film Academy awards, including Best Picture, and eventually landed the Best Acting prize (see news).

Plato’s Academy will screen within Venice Days as a contender for the European Parliament LUX Prize 2010 (see news).