Sylla Tzoumerka’s new short film has its world premiere at the Pardi di Domani – Corti d’autore Competition Section of the 76th Locarno Festival.
At the 76th Locarno Festival and the Pardi di Domani – Corti d’autore (Auteur Short Films Competition), the section of the festival dedicated to short films by established directors worldwide, Sylla Tzoumerka’s 8-minute short film, “My mother is a saint” , will have its world premiere.
In the film, starring Angeliki Papoulia in an unexpected role and the Italian Jacopo Olmo Antinori, known from Bernardo Bertolucci’s last film, Me and You, a son’s meeting with his mother in her hometown of Eleusis takes a completely unexpected turn. For the director, this is “a return to the roots of completely handmade cinema, a film that in its short duration drives personal and political denials at high speed into a redemptive religious slapstick.”
Syllas Tzoumerkas returns to Locarno for the third time – 9 years after the great success of “A Blast” in the International Competition of the Festival and 6 years after his out-of-competition participation with the short essay film “A Manifesto for the Un-Communal” in 2017.
The film was filmed during one day and a half at the festival of Agios Georgios on April 22nd in Elefsina, as part of the action Mystery 84, FESTIVAL – Live Cinema, Working Class, Sirens, the pioneering festival co-edited by Syllas Tzoumerkas together with Lorenzo Esposito and Maria Hatzichristodoulou. Production-commission: 2023 Elefsina Cultural Capital of Europe, with the cooperation of: Thessaloniki Film Festival, LADA – The Live Art Development Agency.
The production of the film is by Konstantinos Sakkas and Delta Pi, the director of photography is Alexandra Riba, the editing is by Giorgos Zafeiris (Mila, The City and the City), the costumes are by Marli Aliferi (The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea, Monday), the sets are by Penelope Valti (Park, Son of Sophia) and the hair and makeup design by Evi Zafeiropoulou (Before Midnight, Crimes of the Future).
MY MOTHER IS A SAINT / screenplay-director: Syllas Tzoumerkas / producer: Konstantinos Sakkas / executive producer: Syllas Tzoumerkas / director of photography: Alexandra Riba / editing: Giorgos Zafeiris / sets: Penelope Valti / costumes: Marli Aliferi / sound: Dimitris Kanellopoulos, Kostas Bokos / hair & make-up design: Evi Zafeiropoulou / additional casting: Cleopatra Ambatzoglou, Lydia Vairaktaraki / production director: Vangelis Fakinos / assistant directors: Nikos Kolioukos, Marianna Bozantzoglou / production consultant: Maria Drandaki
actors: Aggeliki Papoulia, Jacopo Olmo Antinori, Eleni Karagiorgis, Niki Papandreou, Anastasia Anagnostopoulou, Leonidas Stamou, Artemis Zarokosta, Argyris Lambrou
παραγωγή: Delta Pi – 2023 Eλευσίνα Πολιτιστική Πρωτεύουσα της Ευρώπης / με την υποστήριξη της Πρεσβείας της Ιταλίας στην Αθήνα και του Ιταλικού Μορφωτικού Ινστιτούτου στην Αθήνα / διάρκεια: 8’ / DCP / Έγχρωμη / Ελλάδα.
production: Delta Pi – 2023 Eleusina Cultural Capital of Europe / with the support of the Embassy of Italy in Athens and the Italian Educational Institute in Athens / duration: 8′ / DCP / Color / Greece.
Check here the official trailer
