SYNOPSIS

A middle-aged fisherman living on Greece's northern border, who is drowning in debt, starts to smuggle migrants across the border lake, in exchange for a hefty fee. His wife, a housewife and devout churchgoer, is seeking the truth in God's Word, while their daughter tries to define her own life within an oppressive environment. Until a tragic incident strikes the family, pushing the three heroes to face their own personal impasses and weaknesses, whilst having to consider, for the first time in their life, the price to pay for their actions.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

BEHIND THE HAYSTACKS is my debut feature film. It is a contemporary social drama with thriller elements taking place in 2015 in a lakeside village on the northern border of Greece, where hundreds of migrants gather every day with the goal of illegally crossing into Northern Europe.

This story is told from three different perspectives, through a ‘Rashomon-style’ narrative: we gradually discover, through the individual perspectives of three family members, the consequences of self-motivated desires and prejudices related to a central incident. The story takes place in a local corrupt and patriarchal society, while raising questions about how an entire community can be led to crime, deception, submission and collective denial. 

At the same time, the background highlights the hypocrisy of our ‘civilised’ Western societies, which, on the one hand, shed tears for humanity, but on the other hand become accomplices in the exploitation, impoverishment, displacement and even death of thousands of people. BEHIND THE HAYSTACKS is thus, an exploration of where our modern societies are heading and why, and about the way individual human relationships collapse within these societies. An exploration, which, however, has no intention of condemning the everyday person who – defeated – submits to corrupt social structures. On the contrary, it attempts to shed light on the darkness and unveil everything that is human and beautiful in our everyday struggle to survive, from our need to love, to enjoy life, and to improve the world around us.

The film was shot during the second Covid lockdown in 2021, in different locations in Greece and North Macedonia, under extremely difficult circumstances. However, the challenging constraints and countless obstacles helped us take bold and risky decisions in a creative and emotionally gripping process, that turned constraints into new visual stylistic choices. These stylistic decisions related to camerawork, framing and offscreen sound, although initiated by technical constraints themselves, finally served the narrative in a unique and original way, and were coherently embodied into the overall lyrical and intimate style of the film.  

Asimina Proedrou | Writer – Director (November 2022)

Festivals & Awards

- Greece's Official Submission for the 96th Academy Awards (Best International Feature Film)

- European Film Awards Feature Film Selection (2023)

- Hellenic Film Academy Awards – Winner of 10 Iris Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay; record-breaking 17 nominations

- Thessaloniki International Film Festival – National Premiere; Winner of 6 Awards, including the FIPRESCI Award

- International Film Festival of India, Goa – International Premiere; Winner, Best Debut Feature Award

- Palm Springs International Film Festival – Official Selection (Awards Buzz Competition); Nominated for the MOZAIK Bridging the Borders Award

- Sydney Film Festival – Australian Premiere; Official Selection through European Film Promotion, Europe! Voices of Women in Film

- Casting Semiramis Awards – Among the 5 nominated films by the International Casting Directors Association (ICDA)

- Goya Spanish Film Academy Awards – Among the 10 European films nominated for Best European Film

- Galway Film Fleadh – Official Selection

- Belgrade Auteur Film Festival – Official Selection

- Oldenburg International Film Festival – Official Selection

- Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers' Film Festival – Official Selection

- Tirana International Film Festival – Official Selection

- Kinenova International Film Festival – Opening Film, Out of Competition

- Cinema Heritage International Film Festival / UNESCO – Official Selection

- International Crime & Punishment Film Festival – Official Selection

- Taoba International Youth Film Festival – Official Selection

- Balkan Film Festival – Official Selection

- Jagran Film Festival – Official Selection

- Rab Film Festival – Official Selection

- Adana Golden Boll International Film Festival – Official Selection

- Cyprus Film Days International Festival – Special Screening, Out of Competition (The Jury Presents)

- Eastern Neighbours Film Festival – Official Selection

- Eurasia Film Festival – Official Selection

- Balkan Film Food Festival – Winner, Best Film

- Europe on Screen – Official Selection

- Atlanta Greek Film Expo – Official Selection

- San Francisco Greek Film Festival – Winner, Best Film

- Greek Movie Days – Official Selection

- Greek International Film Festival Tour of Canada – Official Selection

- Greek Film Festival (Australia) – Opening Film, Out of Competition

- Houston Greek Film Festival – Official Selection

Release and International Reach

- Theatrically released in Greece for more than 30 consecutive weeks, followed by hundreds of thousands of VOD streams

- Distributed in more than 20 territories worldwide, reaching major platforms and broadcasters, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, ARTE, ZDF and Filmin

Critical Reception

- Critically acclaimed both nationally and internationally

- Widely recognized by  leading Greek critics and film publications as one of the most significant Greek films of the last decade

MAIN CAST

Stathis Stamoulakatos (STERGIOS)

Lena Ouzounidou (MARIA)

Evgenia Lavda (ANASTASIA)

Christos Kontogeorgis (CHRISTOS)

Dina Michailidou (GEORGIA)

and

Paschalis Tsarouchas (DIMITRIS)

PRODUCTION:

WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT: 

Greek Film Centre, EKOME, Eurimages, North Macedonia Film Agency, MEDIA Creative Europe, SEE Cinema Network, DI.VI.PE.K. SA

WITH THE SUPPORT: 

Film Office Region of Central Macedonia, ELEMENTS

GREEK DISTRIBUTOR: Tanweer

WORLD SALES: TVCO