Scripted

Beta Cinema announces it has acquired all rights except Greece and Bulgaria for Arcadia, the second feature film by multi award-winning director Yorgos Zois, bound to world premiere in the Encounters Competition section at the upcoming Berlin Film Festival. The drama-fantasy stars Vangelis Mourikis (The King, Chevalier), who had been at the Berlinale in 2014 with Yannis Economides’ Stratos and in 2020 with Georgis Grigorakis‘ Digger and Angeliki Papoulia, best known for her outstanding performances in Giorgos Lanthimos‘ Dogtooth and The Lobster. The film is produced by Antigone Rota and Stelios Cotionis for Foss Productions, the production company behind Milky Way, Echoes of the Past, and The Beach, and by Maria Drandaki (Animal, The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea, Electric Swan) for Homemade Films.

Arcadia follows radiant neurologist Katerina and Yannis, a former well-respected doctor, who are heading off to a deserted seaside resort. Silence spreads in the car as they travel across sandy dunes in a windy autumn, matching the less-than-pleasant occasion: Yannis had 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.

Director Yorgos Zois states: “I always wanted to make a metaphysical love story and I feel moved coming back to Berlin to present the film to the world, the city that I fell in love with as a residence fellow and never let it go.“

“Between Foss Productions and Homemade Films, we have worked with Yorgos Zois separately on all his films since his award-winning debut short, Casus Belli, premiered in Venice in 2010. Arcadia marks the first time that the two production companies and the three of us worked altogether,” state the producers. “When Yorgos told us that he wanted to make a love story where love and loss would coexist between real and imaginary worlds, we immediately realized that this film was a natural sequel to his work and wanted to support it. We are very glad to join forces with Beta Cinema on this adventure and we are looking forward to sharing the film with the audience in the world premiere at the Encounters Berlinale Competition, a competitive section devoted to new and strong cinematic visions.”

“We are proud to have found a true gem with Arcadia,” states Tassilo Hallbauer, Head of Sales and Acquisitions at Beta Cinema. “It is a beautiful, magical tale with a profound emotional impact and shows the unique handwriting of the extremely talented Yorgos Zios. Its universal topic will speak to audiences all over the world.”

Yorgos Zois is a Greek director whose body of work, four shorts and one feature film (Interruption), has been selected to A-festivals worldwide (Cannes - Semaine de la Critique, Venice - Orizzonti, Rotterdam, Telluride, etc) and has been acknowledged with multiple awards worldwide including Best Newcomer Feature Director and Best short film from the Hellenic Film Academy as well as an EFA nomination for Best Short Film. Ηe was also member of the official Jury “Lion of the Future” at the 74th Venice IFF. Arcadia is his second feature film.

Arcadia is co-produced by Veselka Kiryakova at Red Carpet (Aga, Alienation) in association with Two & Two Pictures and was supported by Eurimages, Greek Film Center, Bulgarian National Film Center, Ekome, Flux Laboratory Athens and Onassis Culture. It was written by Konstantina Kotzamani and Yorgos Zois and lensed by Konstantinos Koukoulios (GSC). Elena Topalidou (Magnetic Fields, Bella) Nikolas Papagiannis (Echoes, Silent Road) and Vagelis Evangelinos (Amercement, Animal) round out the stellar cast.

Beta Cinema will host on-site market screenings and online screenings in Berlin.