The 70th Sydney Film Festival from June 7th to 18th will partner with European Film Promotion (EFP) to bring viewers to Europe! Voices of Women in Film, a program with 10 new films by important European filmmakers.
One of these filmmakers is the Greek director Asimina Proedrou, whose latest film Piso apo tis thimonies (Behind the Haystack) will be screened at the festival.
The film’s synopsis states: “A tragic incident on the northern border of Greece strikes a family of three, forcing them to confront their own personal impasses while also carefully weighing the price of their actions.”
Featuring a mostly Greek cast including Stathis Stamoulakatos, Lena Ouzounidou and Evgenia Lavda, the film sheds light on the 2015 refugee crisis on the Greece-North Macedonia border through the three family members.
Proedrou has previously written and directed two other films, Facets of Solitude and Red Hulk, the latter of which earned her a Golden Dionysus at the Drama International Short Film Festival and the Best Short Film Award at the Athens International Film Festival.
The full list of 10 EFP movies includes:
● BAND | 2022 | Iceland | Director, screenwriter: Álfrún Örnólfsdóttir
● BEHIND THE HAYSTACKS | 2022 | Greece, Germany, North Macedonia | Director, screenwriter: Asimina Proedrou
● ELAHA | 2023 | Germany | Directed by Milena Aboyan
● FAMILY TIME | 2023 | Finland, Sweden | Director, Screenwriter: Tia Kouvo
● THE GIRL OF TOMORROW | 2022 | Italy, France | Director, screenwriter: Marta Savina
● THE SILENT MIGRATION | 2023 | Denmark | Directed by Malene Choi
● SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD | 2023 | Estonia, France, Iceland | Director, Screenwriter: Anna Hints
● SUNLIGHT | 2023 | Ireland | Director: Claire Dix
● THIS AFTERNOON | 2023 | Netherlands | Director, Screenwriter: Nafiss Nia
● THUNDER | 2022 | Switzerland | Director, Screenwriter: Carmen Jaquier
Sydney Film Festival director Nashen Moodley says the program will help women directors shine in an industry fraught with gender inequality while highlighting the diverse experiences of European women.
EFP Managing Director Sonja Heinen said: “This year’s selection of films from our long-standing joint initiative offers an intensive and varied insight into the diverse realities in Europe. Partly inspired by their own biographies, the directors offer their perspective on the world and raise their voices to explore themes of migration, belonging, empowerment and friendship.”
“We are confident that the selected films will engage and inspire Australian audiences and stimulate important, cross-border discussions on the issues affecting our time. Our thanks go to the Sydney Film Festival for sharing this platform with ten films from the most promising European women filmmakers.”
Also at the festival will be a film by German filmmaker Angela Schanelec, which has its own Greek connection.
The film, titled Music, is a contemporary retelling of the tragedy of Oedipus, the story of a king who accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, bringing disaster to his city and family .
The film begins in the mountains of Greece where a young boy is rescued by a local paramedic who adopts him along with his wife and names him Jon. The couple raise him as their own until an incident at the age of 20 changes the course of Jon’s life again. Jon is imprisoned after committing manslaughter in response to an alleged attack by a stranger. In prison, he feels inseparable from prison officer Iro, who shows him great affection and with whom he shares many moments of tenderness.”
The music also features many Greek actors and is spoken in Greek throughout.
Watch the trailer here:
