Happy Birthday (Fête de Famille) (2019)

[caption id="attachment_21864" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] VIRUS – Angelos Frantzis)[/caption] 5 Greek “works in progress” films have been selected by the Thessaloniki International Film Festival to participate in the “Thessaloniki Goes to Cannes” event which will take place on Tuesday, May 23rd, during the Marché du Film of the 70th Cannes Film Festival (May 17 – 28, 2017). The participation of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival’s Agora Industry in the “Goes to Cannes” of this year’s edition of Cannes’ Marché du Film, one of the world’s largest film markets discovering up-and-coming directors from all over the world, is collaboration between the TIFF and the Greek Film Centre with the Festival de Cannes. Greece is the only country in Southeastern Europe and the Balkans that participates in the event. The 5 Works in Progress (both fiction and documentary) that will be presented to the sales agents, distributors and programmers who attend this year’s Cannes’ Marché du Film are the following: 1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY (Fiction, 85’, 2017 – Greece, France, Cyprus, Germany) Director-Writer: Christos Georgiou Production Company: View Master Films, Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion GmbH, Manny Films, Lychnari Productions Limited, Pallas Film, Producer: Costas Lambropoulos, Thanassis Karathanos, Co-producers: Birgit Kemner, Christos Georgiou, Martin Hampel, Language: Greek, Key partners: Greek Film Center, Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animeé, Cultural Services – Ministry of Education and Culture of Cyprus (Advisory Film Committee), Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, FFA – German Federal Film Board, ERT and Eurimages – Council of Europe Stage: Almost completed Looking for: Sales agent, distributors, festivals Synopsis: When George runs out of the police riot bus and sees his daughter among the demonstrators facing him, he and his wife decide that father and daughter should go to their country home for a few days, to keep her safe and see if they can salvage their relationship. 2. POLYXENI (Fiction, 100’, 2017 – Greece) Director-Writer: Dora Masklavanou Production Company: Blonde S.A., Producer: Fenia Cossovitsa, Languages: Greek, Turkish, Key partners: Greek Film Centre, ERT S.A., Nova Stage: Post-production Looking for: Sales agent, festivals Synopsis: In 1955 a couple of prominent Greek Istanbulites adopt an orphan Greek girl from the town of their origin. They offer her a powerful family name and ensure her devotion. Twelve-year-old Polyxeni is separated from her younger brother. She embarks on a new life and a future that looks bright. She receives an education, comes of age and falls in love. She has a lust for life, while unsuspicious of the devious plan of annihilation that others are weaving behind her back, targeting her large inheritance. 3. VIRUS (Fiction, 120’, 2017 – Greece, France, Latvia) Director: Angelos Frantzis, Writers: Angelos Frantzis, Spyros Krimbalis The film won the 2|35 award for post-production services at the Agora Industry’s Crossroads Co-production Forum of the 52nd Thessaloniki IFF. Production Company: Heretic, Producers: Giorgos Karnavas, Konstantinos Kontovrakis, Co-producer: Mathieu Bompoint (Mezzanine Films), Languages: Greek, English, Russian, Key partners: Greek Film Centre, ERT S.A., CNC, Latvian National Film Centre, Blonde S.A., Alatas Films, 235 Stage: Post-production Looking for: Gap financing, sales agent, distributors, festivals Synopsis: Anna and Petros are a young Greek couple that moved recently to a remote Siberian town for Petros’ new job. Their lives are disrupted by Anna’s pregnancy that seems to have no explanation, as they haven’t had sex since they moved to Russia. The questions raised by the mysterious event are relentless; was she cheating? Is she the victim of a conspiracy? Or maybe a Saint? As Petros is desperately looking for a rational answer and Anna resorts to religion to make sense of her situation, two opposing worlds, faith and reason, come to a violent clash. 4. DOLPHIN MAN (Documentary, 87’, 2017 – Greece, France, Canada, Japan, Italy) Director: Lefteris Charitos, Writers: Yuri Averof, Lefteris Charitos Production Company: Anemon Productions, Les Films Du Balibari, Storyline Entertainment, Impleo, Producers: Rea Apostolides, Yuri Averof, Estelle Robin, Ed Barreveld, Seiko Kato, Languages: English, Greek, French, Japanese, Italian, Key partners: Arte, CNC, Greek Film Centre, WOWOW, ERT, Knowledge, TVO, Canal Z, SVT, Region Pays de la Loire, World Sales: Films Transit Stage: Post-production Looking for: Final funding, theatrical distribution partners Synopsis: Dolphin Man tells the life story of Jacques Mayol, the greatest free-diver in recorded history, whose life became the inspiration for Luc Besson’s cult-movie Le Grand Bleu. It draws us into Mayol’s world, capturing his compelling journey from Japan to Europe, North America and India, while immersing viewers into the sensory and transformative experience of free-diving. Mayol was the first diver to reach 100 meters below the sea and revolutionized free-diving by introducing yoga and Zen techniques. He traveled across the world, promoting an urgent vision of our need to reconnect with nature. The film weaves together stunning contemporary underwater photography of the world’s leading free-divers with intimate testimonies of Mayol’s closest friends and family and rare film archive. 5. LP (ΛΠ) (Documentary, 70’, 2017 – Greece) Director-Writer: Cristo Petrou Production Company: Heretic, Producer: Giorgos Karnavas, Languages: Greek, English, Key partners: Greek Film Center, ERT S.A., World Sales: Heretic Outreach Stage: Editing Looking for: Finishing funding, festival premiere Synopsis: ΛΠ is a documentary about Lena Platonos, one of Greece’s most idiosyncratic musicians and one of the world’s forerunners in electronic music. Born on 10.21.1951 under the sign of Libra, she was trained as a classical pianist in Vienna and Berlin but eventually got involved with electronic music when synthesizers became accessible to musicians. However, Lena didn’t receive the international recognition she deserved. 30 years later, the release of her works by the American label Dark Entries in 2015 under critical acclaim gave us the perfect excuse to ask musicians from a wide range of contemporary music to experiment with her music, while interviewing her and all the people who were involved in the making of her records in the ’80s.

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