26/07/2016 - Grozeva and Valchanov’s follow-up to The Lesson will premiere in the International Competition, while Stergios Paschos’ Afterlov will bow in Filmmakers of the Present

After a fruitful short-film run, Stergios Paschos is crossing over to the feature-length format with Afterlov [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stergios Paschos
film profile], set to bow in the Filmmakers of the Present section of this year’s Locarno Film Festival (3-13 August), while Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, the directorial duo behind the multi-awarded The Lesson [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Val…
interview: Margita Gosheva
film profile], will be premiering their Greco-Bulgarian co-production Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Petar Valchanov
interview: Petar Valchanov, Kristina G…
film profile] in the gathering’s International Competition.

Following a railroad worker who stumbles upon a huge sum of cash, which he decides to hand over to the authorities, only to be rewarded with a cheap watch, Glory will vie for Locarno’s top honours by unfolding the story of a man’s struggle to reclaim his lost dignity. Co-produced by Bulgaria’s Abraxas Film and Greece’s Graal Films, and supported by the Greek Film Centre and the Bulgarian National Film Center, the film’s international sales will be handled by Paris-based sales agent Wide. 

Meanwhile, expanding on his award-winning short Elvis Is Dead, Paschos’ feature debut will pick up on the story of Nikos and Sofia, a couple whose recent break-up has left the former shattered. Spending the scorching Athenian summer house-sitting for a friend, Nikos has Sofia come over and locks her up in the adopted villa’s basement, where he intends to keep her until she has explained to him why she ended the relationship.

Drawing on Greek cinema’s past, Paschos shot the film in iconic director Nikos Nikolaidis’ villa in the northern suburbs of Athens, a cinematic emblem in itself, having served as the location for Nikolaidis’ cult classic The Wretches Are Still Singing, along with a range of the seminal director’s other films. Afterlov's international sales will be handled by Athens-based Heretic Outreach.