The jury -Willem Dafoe (president), Peter Fonda, Tavi Gevinson, Alessandro Nivola and Ruth Wilson- prefaced the announcement with the following statement: “When we were watching these movies we were looking for something we hadn’t seen before. We unanimously agree that one film challenged us to see in a new way, and we were seduced by the surprising humanity of its difficult characters. The direction was assured, and its tone unique, and we look forward to seeing Elina Psykou’s next work.’”
“Son of Sofia” is a dark, yet tender coming-of-age fairytale that strikes a masterful balance between realism and dreams, much like its young lead. The story revolves around 11-year-old Misha, who flies from Russia to Athens in the summer of 2004, to join his mother, Sofia, after having spent a long time apart. What he doesn’t know is that there is a father waiting for him there. While Greece is living the Olympic dream,
side of his favorite fairy tales.
Watch the film’s trailer: https://vimeo.com/209420130
One of the six projects that took part in the Berlinale Residency programme in 2013, the film, which also took part in the Co-Production Market of the Berlin Film Festival in 2014, is a European co-production between Greece, France and Bulgaria, and is supported by Eurimages.
The film was produced by Heretic, co-produced by KinoElektron and the Chouchkov Brothers, and supported by the Greek Film Center, the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée, the Bulgarian National Film Center, Eurimages, Creative Europe, ERT and Berlinale Residency. Heretic Outreach is handling world sales.
Written and directed by: Elina Psykou
Produced by: Giorgos Karnavas, Konstantinos Kontovrakis
Co-produced by: Boris Chouchkov, Janja Kralj
Starring: Victor Khomut (Misha), Valery Tscheplanowa (Sofia), Thanassis Papageorgiou (Mr. Nikos), Artemios Havalits (Victor), Areti Seintaridou (Nina), Ivonni Maltezou (Ms. Anna), Maria Filini (Leading lady), Marinos Veslemes (Mr. Andreas) and Christos Stergioglou (Antonis Paraskevas)
DoP: Dionysis Efthimiopoulos
Editing: Nelly Ollivault
Art direction: Pinelopi Valti
Costumes: Marli Aliferi
Sets: Stavros Liokalos
Sound recording: Boris Trayanov
Sound design: Persefoni Miliou
Make-up: Valentin Valov, Petya Simeonova
Hair styling: Maria Koukia
Assistant directors: Katerina Barbatsalou, Rinio Dragasaki, Miltos Ntzounis
Production manager: Giorgos Zervas
Production co-ordinator: Leda Bouzoukou
Casting: ready2cast, Araseli Laimou, Asya Smekalova
Poster design: Ifigenia Vasiliou
Running time: 111’
Countries of production: Greece, France, Bulgaria
Produced by: Heretic
Co-produced by: KinoElektron, Chouchkov Brothers, SIF309, Stefi, Prosenghisi, Steficon
Supported by: Eurimages, Greek Film Centre, Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée, Bulgarian National Film Center, Creative Europe, ERT and Berlinale Residency
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SonofSofia/ #SonofSofia
