Mariama, a teenage Senegalese asylum seeker, and Stella, a Cypriot recovering drug addict, are striving to rebuild their lives. When their paths first cross they use each other, but their shared struggle for survival, in a world that failed them both, sparks an unexpected mother-daughter bond. Together, they redefine the true meaning of love and family, in a heartwarming tale of sacrifice, female solidarity and empowerment.

This is the synopsis for The Lion at My Back, the second feature by Cypriot director Tonia Mishiali, the world premiere of which is taking place in competition at the upcoming Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (3-11 July).

"When I was a child, a war broke out and my family and I had to flee our home. That early displacement stayed with me since. Some years ago, I became close to many immigrant African women. Their resilience resonated deeply with me. As a mother to a teen daughter, I believe there is a special, yet complex, bond between mothers and daughters. So I wanted to find a way to put these two deeply personal issues on film, and this is how the story of this unlikely alliance was born," the director explains.

Mishiali has directed several short films including Dead End (selected in Locarno's Pardi di domani competition in 2013), documentary I Don’t Like the Wind, I Like the Sun (2020) and Daphne (2022), and a first feature, Pause (selected in Karlovy Vary's East of the West competition in 2018).

The cast is led by Sokhna Diallo and Elena Kallinikou. The screenplay was written by Tonia Mishiali, Dianne Jones and Simona Nobile. The Lion at My Back is a Cypriot–Luxembourgish–Greek co-production staged by Mishiali for Cyprus’s Bark Like a Cat Films, with Katarzyna Ozga and Nicolas Steil for Luxemburg-based Iris Productions, and Marinos Charalambous and Vladimiros Subotic, of Avaton Films in Greece. International sales are handled by Finland's The Yellow Affair.

Check out our exclusive poster, photographed by Christos Hadjichristou and designed by Demetris Soteriou, below: