FILMS A-Z

FILMS A-Z

Browse through the detailed list of the screening films of the 4th Santorini Film Festival edition and explore our diverse programme.

Accents

“Accents”, an animated spoken word piece written and peformed by Denice Frohman, is an ode to her mother’s Puerto Rican accent.

Robertino Zambrano

Akram

After a weekend away, Alexander comes home to pick up his "special" shirt for the concert he is scheduled to perform that same evening and is surprised to find his shirt missing. His search for the shirt leads him to Jalal and Akram, two refugees that his roommate housed during the weekend. Faced with the intimacy of the relationship between the two refugees and their hardships, Alexander comes to realize that his own search is trivial in comparison.

Mickey Broothaerts, Adrien Berlandi

Alina

As Nazis separate children from their parents in the Warsaw Ghetto, a gang of women risks everything to smuggle their friend's three-month-old baby to safety. Inspired by true events. Starring Alia Shawkat (ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, SEARCH PARTY), Edin Gali (MAD MEN), Dorota Puzio, Rebeca Robles (BETTER THINGS), Erika Soto (VIDA), and Mark McCullough (LOGAN LUCKY).

Rami Kodeih

Amin

In 2019, the ministry of culture finds a rare 16mm footage that was shot by the famous director Shadi Abdel Salam. The ministry decides to give the film negative to Mohamed Fayez, a notorious film director, in order to complete it into a feature film. Amin decides to protect the rare film negative from Fayez and so he steals the footage. He hits the road to Beni Sweif to hide the footage out there. He is being pursued by three hired thugs. Their purpose is to find him and bring back the footage. While in his journey, Amin contemplates his life, his unfulfilled dreams, regrets and sorrow, in an open letter to his wife, Faten.

Ahmed Abuelfadl

Belle Douleur

Belle Douleur tells the story of a woman’s journey of finding happiness as she breaks free from the confines that society puts on women.

Joji Alonso

Black Conflux

The seemingly separate lives of an anxious, disillusioned teen girl and a troubled, alienated man converge fatefully in this haunting exploration of womanhood, isolation and toxic masculinity, set in 1980s Newfoundland.

Nicole Dorsey

Black Love

"Black Love" is an allegoric moving picture portraying the artist's psyche, using nature's five elements as a visual language.

Dimitris Makaronas

Chasing Unicorns

“Chasing Unicorns” is semisatirical narrative feature about a female founder trying to make it a male-dominated tech world, from Estonia to Silicon Valley. Based on real-life stories of startups, “Chasing Unicorns” follows Õie, a young book-keeper from a small town, who by accident stumbles into a tech scene of her home-country Estonia — a country where making startups is a “national sport” and where everyone has one. He is joined by a serial failure Tõnu, who has gone bankrupt with each one of his companies, but is nevertheless always trying again. Meeting at a hackathon, and inspired by Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, they embark on a journey to take on the tech world.

Rain Rannu

Cielo e Infierno

Belle Douleur tells the story of a woman’s journey of finding happiness as she breaks free from the confines that society puts on women.

Diego Lodeiros

Deportación

A woman’s world is shattered when U.S. Marshals storm her home to arrest her husband–an Italian whose checkered past catches up with him when the law discovers his expired immigration status. This cinematic recreation of true events portrays the trauma endured by those left behind when the people we love are ripped from our lives.

Digital Connection

In a near future where digital avatars of the dead are created in Virtual Reality, a father cannot cope with the loss of his son. He frequently visits him in Virtual Reality. By doing so he neglects his daughter and smears the line between Reality and its digital counterpart.

Tarek Shayne Tabet

Dirty Zone

A filmmaker and a musician, Liên and Fabien, are going to perform in a secret place, nearby the Fos-sur-Mer Gulf, tonight. All day long, they catch images and sounds, raw materials of the in progress show. But before the night, they need to fall through the craks of this soup Opera movie.

Romain Silvi

Dogwatch

After losing his lifelong position at an industrial corporation, Raphael is forced by the Austrian Unemployment Office to take an underwhelming job as a night-time security guard. He recently moved back in with his bedridden mother, who is also cared for by the dedicated Ukrainian nurse Vera. Through her support, Raphael gradually learns to cope with his new life situation, but a tragic incident breaks his world apart once more. A warm-hearted narrative about a part of society, whose basis of existence is increasingly threatened.

Albin Wildner

Family Matters

When Kelly (Jennifer Welts) comes out of jail, she returns to her birthplace Hemelrijken. Although her sister Samantha (Esmée van Kampen) can barely make ends meet herself, she is ready to help. She takes Kelly home and arranges a job for her at a package delivery company. If an old acquaintance (Maarten Heijmans) reclaims a large sum of money from Kelly, the financial problems pile up and she sees no other solution than to go and deal for him. When Samantha hears that, she doesn't want to know anything about her. Until it really goes wrong, because family does not abandon each other, right?

Stanley Kolk

Girl Gone Greek

Rachel Hill is single and in her thirties. Since her mother died, she has had an unstoppable wanderlust, 'Dromomania', her father, John, calls it. She is under pressure from Kirsty, her domineering older sister, to conform to Kirsty's idea of family life. Rachel, however, knows her life will never be settled until she discovers what it really means to be Rachel. Rachel arrives for an interview at a Governmental department somewhere in Europe. Thousands have applied for a new post, and the shortlist is down to only a few; Rachel among them. She is asked what she has found in her life that qualifies her for her perfect job. Rachel's story happens in double narrative flashback.

Harley Wheelchair

Harley, a paralyzed motorbiker contemplates society in his electric cart. When all hope seems lost he rediscovers lust for life at the beach.

Niels Sabbe

I Tried a Summer

Dennis Ledergerber, André Guadagno

I’m Listening

In the last hours of the night, Mirja, a Night Radio host, gets a call on the air of a possible end of the world. Soon this unexpected call starts bursting Mirja's bubble in a way she never would have expected.

Katja Korhonen

Kingdom Of Stars

In the mystical world, a confrontation unfolds between People and Stars for the possession of unknown power — the Flower. An unusual child is destined to resolve the conflict.

Ivan Gopienko

Lenny Makes Some-Thing – “Turn me On”

Musician Lenny escapes from his boring routine through his music. Singing his new song "Turn Me On", he meets his muse Tinkerbell, travels together in the fantasy world and fascinates various fairy tale characters.

Junha Kim

Lesvos, the Island Awaits

In 2015, more than 500.000 refugees came ashore on the Greek island of Lesvos in search of asylum. Still today, refugees and locals are forced to share a territory that is also home of creative solutions to employment and environmental challenges.

Raul Lopez, Susana Soldado

Lou – Athens to Berlin

Newcomer Greek electro pop artist LOU follows a light that will hopefully lead her out of the trap she has made for herself. "Athens to Berlin" is the first music video off of LOU's self-titled debut album, released on January 15 by Greek independent label KLIK Records.

George Tsirogiannis

Lovemobil

Beside the dark highway roads of rural Germany, prostitutes from foreign countries work in old VW-Buses in the forest. ln this uncanny world a murder of one of the women takes place, forcing the women to take action.

Elke Margarete Lehrenkrauss

Mary Jane’s Last Dance

A woman, jilted by her husband, returns to her home state where she accepts her dream job with the U.S. Attorney's Office for South Carolina just as they begin an investigation into drug smuggling. Unbeknownst to her, her beloved nephew, is, in fact, an underworld drug kingpin. Her decison to help bring her nephew to justice plunges her family into a crisis of which they may never recover.

Mood Atlas

The treatment of Bipolar Disorder often entails years of trial and error, whereby patients are required to change their medications numerous times across a lifetime – mood stabilisers, antidepressants, antipsychotic drugs, anti-anxiety pills, sleeping pills, and so on. Mood Atlas is a short documentary exploring Bipolar Disorder through one man’s experiences, and his search for hope in neuroscience. Shane is participating in a research study in which a team of scientists are mapping the brain, in order to better predict, diagnose and treat Bipolar Disorder. The psychological tests administered to Shane act as a device, for the film viewer, to enter Shane’s psyche and his history. Within his own life they act as a means of giving him hope; people are working to better understand his condition and he can offer something to others who struggle as he does.

Mia Mullarkey

Narcissus in Blur

Metamorphoses Magazine is a project directed by Martín Salvador inspired by the Metamorphoses of Ovid. Conceived as a trilogy and presented in two formats: a film and a book.

Martin Salvador

National Boomerang

"National Boomerang" retraces the errance of Loba, a lonely teenage girl, against a backdrop of urban, country and industrial landscapes. In an immersive and contemplative way we follow her way and adventures.

Gaïa Rasnova

Orson Welles Ashes

A sarcastic middle aged actress/writer battles against a down and out chauffeur while driving down Sunset Boulevard in a black Lincoln to free Orson Welles Ashes from being sold to the highest bidder.

Shukran Habibi

Refuge man Mohamed finds a special connection with Kristian, a finnish family man.

Ville Tanttu

Sparring Partners

While Yohan and Julie want to buy a new apartment, they are divided on the proportionate share. Julie earns more than her companion, a former MMA champion. To answer a need of equality, Yohan comes back to competition even to put the equilibrium of their familly in danger.

van Zuylen Thomas

Strip and War

The film tells the story of a small family, consisting of a grandfather retired from the army, and his stripper grandson. It is not just a story of a relationship, but rather a reflection of entire Belarus and the post-Soviet, pro-Russian world. Moreover, it’s a universally-recognized reflection of a generation gap.

Andrei Kutsila

The Cornfield

Yves has accepted to plant an experimental cornfield on his farm. This decision allows the couple to be more financially stable. As they have a baby on the way, everything seems to be on the up. That is, until one day, when Yves discovers some strange sap flowing down an ear of corn.

Michaël Guerraz

The Discrete Way

Wai, a young Asian man in his twenties, lives at his aunt and uncle’s. He works for them as a delivery man. Trapped in a tedious life conditioned by work and a withdrawn community, he meets a solitary man. This encounter will move him deeply.

Ho Lam

The Manchador

Mina and Saeed live a stressful life in the Iranian capital, Tehran. Being a woman in Iran is not particularly easy and Mina sees a future for the family elsewhere. She wants to move abroad, but Saeed then invents a device that places the responsibility for the hijab where it belongs – with the men whose gaze women need protection from. The Manchador is a satire about life in modern day Tehran, seeing, our senses, and spirituality.

Kaveh Tehrani

The Priest

In a lonely desert town a suicidal priest (Patton Oswalt) makes a decision that kicks into motion a series of strange events leading him to an unexpected discovery. Is it coincidence or miraculous?

Michael Vukadinovich

The Wall Between Us

1986. At a youth meeting between East and West ANNA (17) meets PHILLIP. It is “love at first sight”. But the love is overshadowed by a bitter reality: will they be able to carry on a relationship from opposite sides of the wall?

Norbert Lechner

This Little Land of Mines

80 million unexploded bombs remain in the small Southeast Asian country of Laos from when the United States secretly bombed Laos more than any country on earth. This Little Land of Mines is a nuanced, cinematic, and enlightening expose bringing stories of Lao people, young and old, straight to American audiences. During the Vietnam War, the CIA embarked on their largest covert operation to date in Laos. During over 580,000 bombing missions, the U.S. dropped 270 million bombs on Laos, 80 million of which have yet to explode. Since then, tens of thousands of innocent Laotians have been killed or seriously injured by accidentally detonating a bomb; 40% of victims are children. Despite this horrific reality, the collective will of the Lao people is inspiring. One by one, people like Phetsamay, a mother of two, work to find and destroy the bombs. Phetsamay's spirit and optimism is juxtaposed against this tragic reality: at this rate, it will take 2,500 years to rid Laos of UXO (unexploded ordnance). Due to very few Americans knowing about the war, the U.S. gives very little support and funding to Laos' efforts. This Little Land of Mines is a collection of unbelievable stories Americans need to hear. From Lung Ki, an 87-year-old village man who survived over a million bombs while living in a pitch-black cave with 30 other families for 9 years to Lae, who lives in what is now known as 'crater village' and lost her two sons when they picked up a bomb only a few months ago. Although Laotians have endured the heaviest bombing on earth, and live with a constant terror of the unexploded bombs, they all assure you that life is a beautiful blessing and that they have forgiven America. This documentary will capture this unique sentiment, in the hopes of inspiring a younger American generation to form a catalyst and demand real U.S. support in Laos.

Erin McGoff

Wanna Be Basquiat

“Wanna Be Basquiat” is an experimental short film/music video that follows a somewhat abstract narrative about industrial and suburban development, and the dream of prosperity, using hundreds of clippings from vintage images and film.

João Pombeiro

Warrior Women

“Warrior Women” is the story of mothers and daughters fighting for Native rights in the American Indian Movement of the 1970s. The film unveils not only a female perspective of history, but also examines the impact political struggles have on the children who bear witness. In the 1970s, with the swagger of unapologetic Indianness, organizers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) fought for Native liberation and survival as a community of extended families. Warrior Women is the story of Madonna Thunder Hawk, one such AIM leader who shaped a kindred group of activists' children – including her daughter Marcy – into the "We Will Remember" Survival School as a Native alternative to government-run education. Together, Madonna and Marcy fought for Native rights in an environment that made them more comrades than mother-daughter. Today, with Marcy now a mother herself, both are still at the forefront of Native issues, fighting against the environmental devastation of the Dakota Access Pipeline and for Indigenous cultural values. Through a circular Indigenous style of storytelling, this film explores what it means to navigate a movement and motherhood and how activist legacies are passed down and transformed from generation to generation in the context of colonizing government that meets Native resistance with violence.

Dr. Elizabeth A. Castle, Christina D. King

Welcome Back

“WELCOME BACK” takes place in present day Venezuela, and is inspired by a compilation of true stories. The film centers around Rosa and her daughter, Sophie, who have been deported back to the extremely dangerous and communist Venezuela. Prior to leaving Venezuela, Rosa was once an opposition student protestor, an act that is deemed unforgivable by the Venezuelan government. DEEPLY FEARING HER LIFE, Rosa was forced to escape to the United States—but now is being sent back to the country she fled from. After arriving in Venezuela, and managing to obtain an illegal passport, Rosa is able to enter the country, but knows it is TOO UNSAFE FOR HER AND HER DAUGHTER to stay. Rosa and her daughter must find a way to escape to a nearby town in Colombia without getting caught by the Venezuelan government. An insightful short story, inspired by real life events, observing one of the most oppressed countries, while exploring the incredible bond between a mother and her daughter.

Tiffany K. Guillen

Year of the Robot

At the intersection of art and science, L’année du robot (Year of the robot) depicts the human being and the robot as its artificial counterpart. As a series of archival documents detailing the first contacts and dialogue between a robot gifted with an artificially created autonomy and human beings, it studies cognitive dissonance, a minute, mysterious relational space sitting between the two actors. It involves elderly people sometimes afflicted with Alzheimer's or dementia, or young adults with autism or neurological problems. Once past the surprise phase and aware of the artificial nature of the robot's functioning, the residents try, despite everything, to forge bonds with it.

Yves Gellie