2022 festival title
2022 festival date 1liner

IPDF

Day by Day IPDF Schedule

MONDAY MAY 9

LAGFF OPENING NIGHT FILM

@ UCLA – James Bridges Theater

TUESDAY MAY 10

IPDF HANG OUT

@ Location & Time TBD

WEDNESDAY MAY 11

LAGFF PARTY 

@ Mi Alma Gardens, 708 N Wilton Pl @ Melrose, Los Angeles, CA, CA 90038

THURSDAY MAY 12

GROUP INTRO

Closed Event. IPDF Only.

@ Regal LA Live, 9:30 AM – 2:30 PM

The IPDF filmmakers present their projects under the guidance of Screenwriter Jeff Stockwell (A WRINKLE IN TIME) who will give feedback on their stories and pitches, and moderate discussion among the group. 


FRIDAY MAY 13

ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS

Closed Event. IPDF Only.

@ Regal LA Live, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

The filmmakers pitch their projects to our film experts in 30 minute one-on-one, round robin meetings. Industry professionals, including Festival Programmer-Writer Jesse Knight (Palm Springs International Shortfest), Screenwriter-Cinematographer David Walter Lech (‘KAALI KHUHI), Writer-Director Jason Lew (INSECURE, THE FREE WORLD), Writer-Director Terrie Samundra (‘KAALI KHUHI) and Producer Mando Stathi (Viking Brothers Entertainment), will give feedback to the filmmakers on their presentations, as well as on their projects. 

 

IPDF SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK

Closed Event. IPDF Only.

@ Regal LA Live, 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Screenwriting experts Writer-Professor Pavel Jech (Midpoint Institute), Writer-Director Rosita Lama Muvdi (LA SIRENA), Writer-Director Patrick Picard (THE BLOODHOUND), Writer-Director Daniel Talbott (MIDDAY BLACK MIDNIGHT BLUE), Filmmaker Elia Urquiza (NEXT), and Writer MARISÉ SAMITIER (AMORES CIEGOS) dedicate this afternoon to meeting with the filmmakers to discuss their stories and screenplays.

SATURDAY MAY 14

FILMMAKERS’ BRUNCH

@ Regal LA Live, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

VISUAL DECK WORKSHOP 

Closed Event. IPDF Only.

@ Regal LA Live, 1:00 PM – 2:45 PM

The IPDF Filmmakers reconvene in a group setting and get feedback on their visual materials. Led by Director Argyris Papadimitropoulos (MONDAY).


SUNDAY MAY 15

FINAL PRESENTATIONS

Closed Event. Invitation Only.

@  Regal LA Live 10:30 AM – 2:00 PM

The Final Presentations is the culmination of our intensive 4-day workshop. The IPDF Filmmakers, having gathered feedback and advice, present their projects to Director Argyris Papadimitropoulos (MONDAY), Festival Programmer Ana Souza (SUNDANCE) and Showrunner Greg Yaitanes (HOUSE M.D., MANHUNT: UNABOMBER) – a Jury of leading industry professionals specializing in international independent cinema. Each presentation will last 20 minutes, including presentation, feedback and discussion. After that, the Jury will deliberate to determine the winner of the Aegean Award that will be announced during the Closing Night Ceremony.

 

CLOSING NIGHT CEREMONY

@ Pacific Design Center

The IPDF Award winner will be announced during the festival’s Closing Night ceremony. Red carpet photo call at 4:00 PM, HOLY EMY screening at 5pm. Ceremony at 7:30pm. After the Ceremony, join us in the Courtyard for the Closing Night Reception where we will dance, while enjoying wine and food.

IPDF Team

ARACELI LEMOS is a Greek filmmaker based in Athens and Los Angeles. Her debut feature film HOLY EMY, a Greek / French / American co-production, had its world premiere at the 2021 Locarno Film Festival where she received a Special Mention Award from the Jury for First Features. HOLY EMY has been nominated for a leading 15 awards by the 2022 Hellenic Film Academy, including for Araceli as Best Director. As an Editor, Araceli has collaborated with Panayotis Evangelidis on the feature documentaries IRVING PARK (Mermaid Award winner – Thessaloniki Documentary Festival) and THEY GLOW IN THE DARK (Hellenic Film Academy Award – Best Documentary). Her 2012 short film MIGUEL ALVAREZ WEARS A WIG, screened at festivals worldwide including Tampere, Drama, Leeds and Outfest. Araceli is a 2019 Artworks Fellow, a Berlinale Talent Campus alumni, a Fulbright and Onassis Foundation Scholar. She holds an MFA in Film Directing from CalArts.

KARINA LOGOTHETIS is a filmmaker based in Los Angeles and Athens, Greece. She studied Photography and Audiovisual Arts and later on Filmmaking. For the past decade she has been working as a fine arts and fashion photographer having her work published in magazines and photo exhibitions. In the film industry, she works as a director and script supervisor. Karina has directed 4 short films, VOURVOUROU which she wrote and directed and won numerous awards in festivals, NEXTING which is screening in LAGFF and has traveled around the world receiving awards, PEBBLE, and CAN’T WAIT TO DANCE WITH YOU AGAIN, while script supervising in numerous projects in Greece, LA and Mexico. This will be her 5th year working as the Production Coordinator of IPDF.

NASOS GATZOULIS is a Greek Film Director based in Los Angeles. Born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Athens, Greece, he earned a degree in Political Science and Public Administration at the Kapodistrian University of Athens and a Directing MFA at the American Film Institute. His AFI thesis project called “Tim of the Jungle” has screened in many festivals including Camerimage International Film Festival, LA SHORTS International Film Festival and is an official pick in Short of the Week. He received an honorary mention for his feature project called “TWO RACCOONS” at the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival as part of the IPDF Project of 2018. He has been a part of the LAGFF Programming Team since 2019.

JOEL GARBER is a filmmaker from Milwaukee, WI, based in Los Angeles. As a Writer-Director, his films have screened at festivals worldwide including the Palm Springs International ShortFest, the Miami International Short Film Festival, the Wisconsin Film Festival, and at NewFilmmakers NY and LA. Joel has recently collaborated (as Consulting Producer) with Director Araceli Lemos on the critically acclaimed feature film HOLY EMY which premiered internationally at the Locarno Film Festival and at AFI Fest in the US. HOLY EMY has received numerous accolades including a leading 15 nominations at the 2022 Hellenic Film Academy Awards. As an Editor and Producer, Joel has worked extensively on non-fiction television programs for platforms that include Disney+, Amazon, HGTV, and CBS. He holds degrees in Cinema from San Francisco State University (MFA) and from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (BA)

Meet the Experts

PAVEL JECH (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) is a graduate of the Columbia University Film Division as well as of FAMU, The Film and Television School of the Academy of the Performing Arts in Prague, where he served two terms as dean from 2008 to 2016. During his terms, FAMU was ranked among the top film schools in the world, and student films met great success at some of the world’s top festivals. Previously, Jech was the founding chair of FAMU International, a department for English speaking students, and also the faculty liaison for NYU-Tisch, American University, Yale and other programs for American students visiting Prague. He is an active instructor of screenwriting and script analysis, and works as an expert advisor for Sundance Labs, Berlinale Talents, the Mediterranean Film Institute and for the Midpoint Center, which he co-founded and serves as head of studies. Jech lectures internationally, and his manual on dramaturgy for short films, The Seven Minute Screenplay is used by film students around the world. He also worked in over ten countries as a screenwriter and script editor, including for the feature film GRANTHOTEL (Berlinale premiere 2007), has worked as a creative collaborator on some of the most recent films of Jan Nemec, and has directed a short film presented at the European Film Academy Award ceremony.

JESSE KNIGHT (ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS) is a Los Angeles-based film festival programmer, writer, copy editor and roller skater. His festival and film society contributions include Palm Springs International ShortFest, AFI Fest, San Francisco International, Sundance Institute, Palm Springs International, Frameline, and many others. His repertory programming includes The Royal Cinema in Toronto, and The Capitol Theater in Olympia, WA. His rollerskating contributions include anywhere, so look out.

DAVID WALTER LECH (ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS) is a screenwriter and cinematographer. Co-writing with his creative collaborator, Terrie Samundra, Lech’s credits include the 2020 Netflix Original film KAALI KHULI, BETAMAX (2013 Sundance Institute International Screenwriters Lab), and the narrative adaptation of the D.A. Pennebaker/Chris Hegedus documentary TOWN BLOODY HALL. He is also co-creator and co-writer of the episodic series in development THE BALLAD OF POOJA. As a cinematographer, he is known most notably for THE WIND AND THE WATER (World Dramatic Competition, Sundance 2008), A LOVELY DAY and LITTLE FEET by director Alexandre Rockwell (2013 TIFF Premiere, Special Jury Prize at the Mar Del Plata Film Festival with Jury head Bong Joon-Ho). An East Coaster, Lech now lives in Los Angeles with his family.

JASON LEW (ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS) is a Chinese-American filmmaker based out of Los Angeles. He wrote and directed THE FREE WORLD, which premiered in Dramatic Competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. The film stars Elisabeth Moss, Boyd Holbrook & Octavia Spencer and was distributed by IFC. His first screenplay, RESTLESS was directed by Gus Van Sant and produced by Ron Howard. Recently, Lew has been writing/producing on multiple TV projects (INSECURE, BALLERS) for HBO, including an original pilot developed for Lebron James’ banner, Springhill. Current: a scripted podcast for Qcode, A western-feature currently in development, a drama series with Tessa Thompson’s VIVA MAUDE and writing/producing credits on Damon Lindelof’s latest show for Peacock. Jason was a Cinereach fellow and is a grad of NYU, where he studied acting, directing and design for theater.

ROSITA LAMA MUVDI (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) is a Palestinian-Colombian director/screenwriter whose visceral films explore the monster within all of us and what happens when it finally comes out to play. After working in Colombia’s film industry for several years, Rosita attended the American Film Institute Conservatory where she graduated with an M.F.A. in Directing in 2016. Since then, her psychosexual fairy tale LA SIRENA has won Best Horror at multiple festivals, including the Grand Jury Award at Dances With Films and the Mary Shelly Award at Other Worlds Austin, given to a female filmmaker whose film furthers the representation of women in genre. Currently, Rosita lives in Los Angeles and is repped by Verve Talent & Literary Agency and Luber Roklin Entertainment.

Born in Greece, ARGYRIS PAPADIMITROPOULOS (JURY) studied in the UK. His shorts, TENDER, 2004 and PENDULUM, 2003 travelled around the world and got him a Berlinale Talent Campus stamp on his passport. He directed four feature films (MONDAY, 2020, SUNTAN, 2016, WASTED YOUTH, 2011 and BANK BANG, 2009), that received critical acclaim and commercial success and travelled to many prestigious international film festivals around the world, including Toronto, Rotterdam, SXSW, BAFICI, Karlovy Vary, Munich, Edinburgh, Brussels and more. Argyris’ latest film MONDAY starring Sebastian Stan and Denise Gough, would have premiered in Tribeca 2020 in a world without COVID19, finally premiered in Toronto 2020 (Industry Selects section), was released in the US by IFC and is represented for its international sales by Protagonist Pictures.
He also directed more than 200 commercials for clients like Coca Cola, Ikea, Absolut Vodka, Nescafé and many more and social campaigns for Amnesty International, ActionAid, WWF and more.
With his producer’s hat Argyris produced some of the most significant films of the new Greek cinema like BOY EATING THE BIRD’S FOOD and Berlinale’s sensation AT HOME.

PATRICK PICARD (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) is a filmmaker from Virginia. He studied philosophy at the College of William & Mary and earned his Masters of Fine Arts from the American Film Institute. His debut feature, THE BLOODHOUND, was included among PASTE’s “Best Poe Adaptations” and has been described by the Hollywood News as an “impressively stylish and intellectual debut”.

MARISE SAMITIER (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) is an awarded director and optioned screenwriter born in Spain, based in Los Angeles. Marisé holds an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA. She is alumnae of American Film Institute’s Directing-Workshop-for-Women (AFI-DWW). Her feature length scripts have placed semifinalist in Nicholl Fellowship, Austin FF, Page. She’s produced, written and directed multiple short-films, plus PSA’s and music-videos. Her work has received awards internationally. Marisé worked as World-Cinema-Coordinator in Sundance. She served in the selection committee of AFI-DWW. Both action-drama feature AFRICAN HARVEST and intimate-thriller A FISTFUL OF ASHES participated at Maison des Scenaristes Cannes 2017 and 2019, and eQuinoxe Europe 2021. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and her 15-year old daughter who keeps them young and playful.

TERRIE SAMUNDRA (ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS) is a Director and Screenwriter whose debut feature, the Netflix Original film KAALI KHULI, was released internationally in October 2020. Currently, Samundra is in development of her original series THE BALLAD OF POOJA, an international co-production with US and India studios, and she has recently wrapped work as a staff writer on an undisclosed Netflix series. She is an alumna of the Sundance Institute International Screenwriters Lab, the SFFILM/Kenneth Rainin Screenwriting Fellowship and the Sundance Women in Film Finance Intensive. A multicultural artist, Samundra grew up between a rural village in India, a small farming town in Missouri, and along the coast of California. She is represented by the Gersh Agency and Circle of Confusion.

Born in Buenos Aires, GUIDO SEGAL (ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS) moved to Los Angeles to pursue his MFA in Screenwriting at UCLA. He has worked as a film critic in Argentina and Spain, and was a Jury Member at la Semaine de la Critique during the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. He directed and produced documentaries for History and Discovery Channel, and he co-wrote the films LEONES (2012), and KEKSZAKALLU (2016), both of which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. His screenplays have been nominated for two International Emmy awards and have won one Martin Fierro award. Segal has taught Screenwriting and Film Analysis in Argentina, Spain, and Finland; he currently teaches Introduction to Screenwriting at UCLA. He has worked for Buena Vista International, 30 West, Marvista Entertainment and Anonymous Content.

Born in Brazil, ANA SOUZA (JURY) was partially raised in Amsterdam. She holds a B.A. from the University of Warwick, England and an M.A. from the University of Southern California. She is the Manager of the Programming department at Sundance and a programmer on the features team. In addition to her work at Sundance, she is the Director of Programming at the Sun Valley Film Festival and the Forum Producer for the Palm Springs International ShortFest. She has also programmed for AFI FEST, Outfest, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, and the LA Film Festival in the past, and she has worked in various capacities for LALIFF, Ambulante California, and NALIP’s Latino Media Fest, among others.

MANDO STATHI (ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS) is a producer, born and raised in Athens. She received her MA from Goldsmiths University of London and since then she has lived and worked in Athens, Italy, London, San Francisco and she is currently based in Los Angeles. In 2011, she founded Stathi Twins Productions with her twin sister Myrto Stathi and together they have produced features and shorts that have been screened, and awarded at top tier festivals, including the Semaine De la Critique in Cannes Film Festival 2021. At the same time, Mando is working as a producer for Viking Brothers Entertainment, Peter Stormare’s (JURASSIC PARK, FARGO, PRISON BREAK, ARMAGEDDON) and Glenn Lund’s (ANIARA, SWEDISH DICKS) production company. She is one of the creators of the Viaplay Original Series “The American Runestone” that premiered in Discovery + in the USA and she was behind the production team of Lionsgate’s TV series SWEDISH DICKS starring Stormare and Keanu Reeves. She is currently developing a feature film and a drama limited series.

Screenwriter JEFF STOCKWELL’S (GROUP INTRO) feature credits include: THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS, produced by and starring Jodie Foster; WILDER DAYS, (a telefilm nominated for the WGA Award for Best Original Long Form TV); and Disney’s BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA and A WRINKLE IN TIME. He has done uncredited writing on projects including PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF and ARTEMIS FOWL, has spent a year as a contract writer at Pixar Animation Studios, and has numerous projects in development.

Jeff has been an instructor/mentor with the Screenwriting Lab at Film Independent since 2004, and, for the past several years, with both Global Media Makers and American Film Showcase screenwriting workshops in LA, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.

DANIEL TALBOTT (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) is an award-winning Writer and Director, a Lucille Lortel Award winning theater Producer, and the artistic director of Rising Phoenix Rep. He just premiered his debut feature film, co-written and co-directed with Samantha Soule, – Midday Black Midnight Blue at SIFF in Seattle. His pilot MEADOW LANE is in development with John Lesher’s Le Grisbi. His feature script GRAY is in active development in Denmark with Motor Productions, with Martin de Thura attached to direct. His feature script YOSEMITE (Golden Palm, Best Screenplay – Beverly Hills Film Fest; Best Screenplay – Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF); High Scribe Residency at the Sun Valley Film Festival) is in development, with Hari Sama attached to direct and Eric Norsoph producing. He is a graduate of Juilliard and has been on staff at THE CONNERS for ABC, as well as THE MIST, based on the Stephen King novella, for Spike TV.

ELIA URQUIZA (SCREENPLAY FEEDBACK) is one of the founding partners of La Panda Productions, a creative collective company formed by a group of Spanish Filmmakers and Producers in Los Angeles in 2012. After operating in the US for four years, La Panda opened offices in Spain in 2016 to help bridge the gap between Hollywood and their native country. The company offers production services in both countries and specializes in developing international independent co-productions focusing on the Spanish speaking market. As such, La Panda has co-produced such acclaimed films as Carlos Marques Marcet ́s 10000KM and ANCHOR AND HOPE, Julia Solomonof’s NOBODY’S WATCHING, Koldo Serra’s 70BINLADENS, or Lila Aviles’ LA CAMARISTA, selected by Mexico as their Oscars contender last year.

GREG YAITANES (JURY) just wrapped producing and directing the GAME OF THRONES prequel, HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, for HBO. Prior to that he Executive Produced and Directed CASTLE ROCK for J.J. Abrams and Stephen King, THE TWILIGHT ZONE for Jordan Peele. Yaitanes served as Showrunner, Executive Producer, and sole director of Netflix’s MANHUNT: UNABOMBER and well as Cinemax’ critically acclaimed series QUARRY. He also was Showrunner of the cult favorite Banshee. It was his work on global phenomenon HOUSE, M.D. that earned him an Emmy Award in 2008 for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. Between HOUSE and BANSHEE, Greg has led his team to 29 Emmy nominations and 6 wins, including the first Emmy nomination for content aired exclusively online for the Fox series, DRIVE. Greg has three kids, Van, Electra and Leo. They live in Los Angeles.

Meet the IPDF Filmmakers

Meet the IPDF Filmmakers

DAVID HENRY GERSON (BIRD OF PARADISE, Director / Co-Writer) is a filmmaker whose work has won prizes from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Sundance Film Festival, and has been acquired into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in NY. His debut feature documentary THE STORY WON’T DIE, on Syrian artists in exile, premiered at Hot Docs, AFI Docs, and won Best Director at Doc LA. He produced and acted in the short film CHAPEL PERILOUS, which won the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award. David’s spec screenplay, ABOVE KINGS, set to be produced by Donald De Line (Spielberg’s READY PLAYER ONE), was nominated to the Tracking Board Hit List and was a semifinalist for the Academy’s Nicholl Fellowship. He is a graduate of Columbia University and the American Film Institute, where he was the recipient of the AFI Richard P. Rodgers Award for Creative Excellence. His thesis film, ALL THESE VOICES, won the Student Academy Award®. He is repped by Gary Ungar and Reed Baumgarten of Exile Entertainment.

MASA SAROVIC (EMBRYO, Director) was born in Subotica, Serbia in 1993. She received a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the Faculty of Drama Arts in Belgrade – Department of Film Directing. Her short film THE CITY (2016) premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival, after which it was presented and awarded at many other film festivals including Kustendorf (Special Jury Award). Another short film HOTTEST SUMMER DAYS (2018) premiered at the Sarajevo Film Festival and was presented at other festivals such as FID Marseille, Ljubljana FEKK (Gran Prix for Best Film), Winterthur International Short Film Festival, and TAU Student Film Festival Tel Aviv. In 2019 she took part in the Factory project of the Cannes Film Festival where she directed a segment of the omnibus film IN YOUR HANDS, which was shown at Quinzaine des Réalisateurs. She is currently developing her debut feature film.

KONSTANTINOS ANTONOPOULOS (GLORY B, Director / Co-Writer) received his film MFA from Columbia University in NY where he directed a series of shorts, such as the award winning WITHOUT GLASSES (2009) and LEA (2013). Back in Athens, he co-wrote Angelos Frantzis’ feature SYMPTOM (2015), edited Lugi Campi’s MY FIRST KISS AND THE PEOPLE INVOLVED (2016), and directed documentary series for the web and TV. His short film POSTCARDS FROM THE END OF THE WORLD (2019) received numerous awards at international festivals such as Aspen Shortsfest, Winterthur Kurzfilmtage and Brussels Short Film Festival. He’s a Berlinale Talents, Torino Film Lab, Less Is More, First Films First and European Short Pitch alumni. He received the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship Award in 2019. His latest short film UNORTHODOX is due to premiere later this year. He believes in patience.

FANI SKARTOULI (GLORY B, Producer) has studied law and worked with prominent international law firms in Brussels, Paris and Athens in the fields of EU, Employment and Intellectual Property law. She started working in film in 2016. She has produced the short films POSTCARDS FROM THE END OF THE WORLD and MOM’S MOVIE, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2019. Fani has substantial working experience in international productions filmed in Greece, including BECKETT (Locarno Film Festival 2021) and THE LOST DAUGHTER (Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Venice 2021). She recently collaborated with the Walt Disney Company on a Disney+ feature shot in Greece and currently in post-production. She is an alumna of Berlinale Talents (2021), Rotterdam Lab (2022) and an EAVE Producers workshop (2021). She is currently developing the feature film GLORY B. Other upcoming projects include the short film UNORTHODOX, currently in post-production, and GEORGE, written by Efthimis Filippou.

YIANNA AMERICANOU (MY NAME IS LILY, Director / Co-Writer) has an MA in Film from the University of Bristol and a BA in Film from the University of Iowa, under the mentorship of experimental filmmaker Leighton Pierce (Dean of CalArts). Her short films have been screened at many important international film festivals including Rotterdam IFF, Oberhausen ISFF and have received prestigious awards from Hamburg IFF, Drama IFF, and Cyprus ISFF. Her short film titled LULLABY received the Tonia Marketaki award for Best Directing (Drama ISFF, 2009) while it was taken by STOP International in Geneva and Anti Human Trafficking Organizations in Cyprus to promote anti-trafficking legislations throughout the island. Yianna’s debut feature film, .DOG has received funding by the Cyprus Cinema Advisory Committee, ERT, See Cinema Network and the Greek Film Centre, and distribution by Urban International (FR). Thessaloniki IFF Goes to Cannes chose it to participate at Marche du Film during the Cannes Film Festival 2020.

MANOS PAPADAKIS (PARAMONI, Director / Writer) was born in Heraklion, Crete in 1985 and studied cinema in Athens. He began his career in cinema as a Producer of the short films SUNDAY (directed by Vaggelis Serfas, 2013) and DON’T FORGET ME (directed by Giorgos Paterakis, 2014). Afterwards, while keeping the role of Producer, he moved towards screenwriting with the short film 1 (directed by Natassa Xidi, 2016). Later he moved toward directing while still keeping the roles of Producer and Screenwriter with the short film THE MEANING OF AUGUST, a 2020 production. His films have participated in many international festivals and have won various awards. He has participated in cinematic workshops like MFI, Talents Sarajevo, Interfilm Script and Pitch, and Sources 2. The most important project of his life so far is his 4 years old son, who has inspired him in a number of unexpected and yet unlimited ways.

ALEXANDRA MATHEOU (SHIBBOLETH, Director / Writer) is a Cypriot writer and filmmaker based in Athens and London. She holds a Law LLB and LLM from King’s College London, as well as an MA in Film Studies from University College London (UCL). Her short films have screened internationally, and her latest A SUMMER PLACE (a Cyprus-France co-production), continues its successful festival run with screenings and awards at major film festivals around the world. Alexandra recently launched This is the Girl Films, an independent film production company based in Cyprus. She also co-founded Film SOS, Greece’s first initiative aiming to accelerate sustainability in the Greek audiovisual sector. Alexandra is an alumna of Talents Sarajevo 2018. She is currently working on SHIBBOLETH, her first feature film with the support of Onassis Culture and the Cyprus Film Fund.

Selected Projects

BIRD OF PARADISE (Greece/USA)

Film Representative

David Henry Gerson 

 

Creative Team

Director / Co-Writer: David Henry Gerson

Co-Writer: Nick Blaemire

Producer: Dani Ruiz

 

On the Greek island of Lesvos, vacationers party just a few miles from the Moria Refugee Camp. When a refugee convinces two privileged volunteers to let him join them on their weekend getaway, what begins as a break on the beach slowly turns into a dangerous love triangle, and a fight for humanity in an inhumane place.

EMBRYO (Montenegro)

Film Representative

Maša Šarović

 

Creative Team

Director: Maša Šarović

Writer: Sara Đurović

Producer: Jelena Šoškić

 

Abandoned by her family, a pregnant young woman in search of her maternal instinct, has to deal with her abusive husband, surrounded by the mountains of Podgorica.

GLORY B (Greece)

Film Representative

Konstantinos Antonopoulos, Fani Skartouli

 

Creative Team

Director / Co-Writer: Konstantinos Antonopoulos

Co-Writer: Luigi Campi

Producer: Fani Skartouli

 

703AD. Two pilloried convicts shipwreck on a deserted Mediterranean island. ZAHARIAS is a peaceful beekeeper falsely convicted of heresy. JUSTINIAN II is a dethroned emperor, punished by nose mutilation. If they want to survive, and reclaim their lives, they need each other. But they can’t handle each other. Glory B is a byzantine buddy movie about power, revenge and the need to wipe your own ass with somebody else’s hand.

MY NAME IS LILY (Cyprus/Belgium)

Film Representative

Yianna Americanou

 

Creative Team

Director / Co-Writer: Yianna Americanou

Co-Writer: Christina Georgiou

Producer: Stelana Kliris


Born intersex and “fixed“ by her parents, Lily can‘t have children and decides to adopt. During the adoption process, she witnesses history repeat itself through Ori, an intersex eleven-year-old who’s about to undergo the same “corrective“ surgery without consent. Lily has no choice but to step in.

PARAMONI (Greece)

Film Representative

Manos Papadakis

 

Creative Team

Director / Writer: Manos Papadakis


When a married woman realizes that her personal life is disintegrating, she decides to take her husband and child around the house of her two secret lovers, in order for them to spend New Year’s Eve all together.

SHIBBOLETH (Greece/Cyrpus)

Film Representative

Alexandra Matheou

 

Creative Team

Director / Writer: Alexandra Matheou

Producer: Tonia Mishiali


A love triangle forms between a surrogate mother and the couple whose baby she is pregnant with as she joins them on a summer vacation. Nothing goes as planned when the truth is revealed about their real intentions.

IPDF