11/02/2025 - Set on a lavish Mediterranean island in the 1970s, the film delves into family tensions, power struggles and hidden agendas during an opulent birthday celebration

The cast and director (top row, fourth from left) of The Birthday Party (© Heretic)

Spanish director Miguel Ángel Jiménez’s latest film, The Birthday Party, is set to be presented at the upcoming European Film Market (EFM) (13-19 February). Represented jointly by Bankside Films and Heretic, the project will be shown off to potential buyers during the event. Starring four-time Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe, the film boasts an impressive ensemble cast and is currently in post-production.

Set on an exclusive Mediterranean island in the late 1970s, The Birthday Party follows Marcos Timoleon, a powerful, Onassis-like tycoon portrayed by Dafoe, who hosts an extravagant birthday celebration for his daughter, Sofia. Marcos, accustomed to controlling everyone and everything around him, has a hidden agenda for the evening, planning a life-altering decision on Sofia's behalf. As the night unfolds and the festivities spiral into decadence, Sofia reveals news that challenges her father's authority. The gathering of guests – each with their own motives – adds to the tension, leading to an explosive confrontation that shatters familial bonds and exposes deep-seated rifts.

Led by Dafoe, in his second collaboration with Heretic after Inside [+see also:
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The Birthday Party, primarily shot on location on Corfu and in Athens, is written and directed by Miguel Ángel Jiménez, with co-writing credits attributed to Giorgos Karnavas and Nicos Panayotopoulos. The screenplay is adapted from Panos Karnezis's novel of the same name. Jiménez is known for his previous work on the San Sebastián-premiered Window to the Sea [+see also:
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The Birthday Party is a co-production involving Greece, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK. The producing team is led by Giorgos Karnavas, of Heretic, and the co-producers include Adria Mones for Fasten Films, Erik Glijnis and Leontine Petit for Lemming Film, and Kurban Kassam for Raucous Pictures. The production received financial support from the Greek Film Centre, ICEC, the Netherlands Film Fund and the BFI’s Global Screen Fund. Additional backing came from EKOME, ERT, Kalamata Films, Eolo Films, Hopeless Romantic, Osmyx Film Clinic and Frontstage Entertainment.