15/12/2015 - The second feature by Greek director Elina Psykou has won Work-in-Progress, while Giacomo Abbruzzese’s project pocketed the Arte development prize

On Monday evening, the professional sidebar of the seventh Les Arcs European Film Festival handed out two awards. The first singled out Son of Sofia from among the 11 selected titles in Work-in-Progress; this is the second feature by Greek director Elina Psykou, following The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elina Psykou
film profile] (revealed at Berlin in 2013, in the Forum section). Produced by Giorgios Kanavas for Heretic, and co-produced by Chouchkov Brothers (Bulgaria) and KinoElektron (France), the movie will be ready in spring 2016. Starring Viktor Khomut, Valery Tcheplanowa and Thanasis Papageorgiou, it revolves around an 11-year-old Russian boy who arrives in Athens in 2004 to live there with his mother. But he hasn’t seen her for quite some time and had no idea that she was shacked up with an old Greek gentleman...

Of note among the other films presented in Work-in-Progress was the overall very positive reception for Valley of Shadows [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen
film profile] by Norway’s Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen, and promising titles such as the Danish production Wolf and Sheep [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Shahrbanoo Sadat
film profile] by Afghani filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat, the Franco-German-Polish documentary Game Girls by Alina Skrzeszewska, The Last Things by Italy’s Irene Dioniso, One Step Behind the Seraphim by Romania’s Daniel Sandu and the stunning Zoology [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan I Tverdovsky
film profile] by Russian director Ivan I Tverdovsky.

Handed out to one of the 25 projects from the Coproduction Village, the Arte International Prize went to Disco Boy by Italian director Giacomo Abbruzzese. Produced by Juliette Sol for French outfit Stromboli Films and co-produced by transalpine company Dugong Films, the project depicts the epic journey of a soldier who goes on to become a dancer, his long and treacherous voyage to France, his engagement in the Foreign Legion, and finally the world of Parisian nightclubs. For the record, Disco Boy already received backing last year from the Franco-Italian co-production development support fund helmed by the CNC and the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities.

Lastly of note is the fact that Eurimages, in partnership with the film festivals in Les Arcs, Thessaloniki, Karlovy Vary and Haugesund, announced the launch of Lab Projects, which will provide €50,000 of support to European co-productions featuring innovative artistic content.

(Translated from French)