Works in Progress Award 2015 won Greek Park

The Greek project Park from director Sofia Exarchou was chosen by an international jury as the most promising project of Karlovy Vary IFF’s Works in Progress 2015. Park will receive the award of 10,000 Euros in services from the event’s partner Barrandov Studios.

15 projects selected out of 57 were presented at #KVIFF on July 6. Park was presented by Sofia Exarhou (director) and Amanda Livanou (producer). „Set in the ruins of past glory, this film takes us to the bottom of society and ignites a firework of raw energy. A portrayal of a young generation that has been betrayed and deprived of its future,“ says the statement of the Jury.

The Jury:
Paz Lázaro, Berlin International Film Festival (Germany)
Titus Kreyenberg, unafilm (Germany)
Jan Naszewski, New Europe Film Sales (Poland)

Film synopsis: Ten years have passed, and the Olympic Village in Athens, Greece is in decay. Among the abandoned athletic facilities and new-money tourist resorts nearby, Dimitris (17), Anna (24), a retired athlete, and their friends traverse Greece’s “glorious” past with the decadence of today, creating a portrait of a society unprepared for the brutal fall.

Director’s filmography: Sofia Exarchou is the writer/director of the short films Mesecina and Distance. She pursued post-graduate studies in Toulouse and at the Stella Adler Studio in New York. Exarchou is based in Athens, where she received degrees in Electrical Engineering and Film studies. In 2012, she began writing her first feature Park, which has already won multiple international development awards (Crossroads CNC Development Prize, Thessaloniki 2012, Eurimages Development Award, Sarajevo 2013). Park was selected both for the Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab & Director’s Lab (January & June 2014), the only European project in the year’s selection.

Producer’s filmography: Born in Athens, Amanda Livanou graduated from the London School of Economics with an MA in International History. She has been working as an independent film and television producer since 2000. Recent titles include L by Babis Makridis (World Drama Competition, Sundance Film Festival, Competition Rotterdam FF 2012, Grand Prix, Modolist FF), They Glow in the Dark (2013) by Panagiotis Evangelidis (Fipresci Award, Thessaloniki Doc Festival, Best Documentary, Hellenic Film Academy Awards). Curently in pre-production is Pity, by Babis Makridis, and the new documentary by Panagiotis Evangelidis. She is a graduate of the EAVE Producers training program (1997). She was elected to the Board of Directors of Directors of the Hellenic Film Academy in 2013.