Antigoni Rota

What Mary Didn't Know

Mary, 17, is a Swedish teenager who is spending her summer vacation with her family aboard a cruise in the Mediterranean. One day, she meets Manos, 25 years old, a Greek waiter who works on the boat. The language barrier is far from being an obstacle to their mutual attraction and the same evening, Mary leaves her cabin to find the young man in secret. Under the full moon, they will experience a night of love full of passion. But as the boat enters the waters of the Aegean Sea, their story suddenly ends. Mary will have to find alone an answer to the unsolved mystery of love, facing the imposing ruins of an ancient Greek temple.

Stray Bodies

Robin is pregnant but doesn't want to be a mother. Katerina and Gaia are single but want a child. Kiki suffers from an incurable disease and wants her life to end with dignity. The procedures they hope to get access to – abortion, IVF and euthanasia – are only available and legal in other countries. Therefore, they resort to so-called medical tourism.

Arcadia

Neurologist Katerina and former doctor Yannis are heading off to a deserted seaside resort. Silence descends on the car as they travel across dunes in a windy autumn, matching the less-than-pleasant occasion: Yannis has been called to identify the victim of a tragic accident at the hospital of the small town. When the local policeman informs them that the victim’s vehicle had plunged over the parapet of a stone bridge and leads them to the morgue, Katerina sees her worst suspicions confirmed. Together with Yannis, but also on her own nightly excursions to a mysterious, rustic beach bar called Arcadia, they begin to put the pieces of the puzzle together, revealing a haunting story of love, loss, acceptance and letting go.

Pleiades (or Going Home)

From the music of Argentine composer Gustavo Santaolalla, Greek filmmaker Jacqueline Lentzou crafts a story inspired by the Pleiades, seven sisters who are nymphs who were turned into stars. This short film is part of the 2x25 Project of Film Fest Gent and the World Soundtrack Awards. The project commissioned 25 composers to compose a short piece of music, after which 25 filmmakers made short films that are the ultimate symbioses of music and cinematography, fitting completely within the DNA of the festival. The result: 25 exceptional films where the music inspired the form, narrative and texture.

Horsepower

Max, a young artist, can't climax. She exhibits a sculpture and her friends make fun of her. Trying to liberate her sexuality she will lose herself in her fantasies where a black horse is hiding.

Mare Nostrum

1863. In a vast and desolate coast, Grand Tour voyagers are seeking Arcadia and the ancient ruins, symbols of an emerging Greek and European identity. More than one century later, the body of an unidentified man lies on the same coast…

Cedar Wolf

Zohair, a 14 year old refugee from Afghanistan, finds himself trapped in legal limbo in Greece. While wandering around Athens, he recollects his hometown. His life gradually brightens through the work in an old sawmill and his relationship with an old carpenter and his son.

Torpor

In the streets of fear, residents are searching for their local “heroes.” Bodies become docile, desires are suppressed and Alexandros remains a child of his age, against the imperatives of the era, of society and – above all – against the will of his father. Alexandros will need to abandon his teenage self once and forever and choose sides in an undeclared war, in a present shaped by others for him.

Refuge

At a crossroad in Athens, people of different nationalities, including locals, refugees and tourists come together. Only for a moment.

The Beast Asleep

In a world where people stopped mating and the human race is under extinction, a lonely man Varsanouphios and a girl Ploumi find love through an arranged marriage.

The Eye and the Brow

The associative thoughts of a lonely man who has committed suicide out of love.