SPOTLIGHT: ANGELIKI PAPOULIA

Arcadia – by Yorgos Zois

Radiant neurologist Katerina and Yannis, a former well-respected doctor, 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.

Yorgos Zois

Yorgos Zois is a Greek director born in 1982 and based in Athens. He studied applied Math & Nuclear Physics at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and film direction in UdK Berlin. He started his career working as an assistant director to Theo Angelopoulos and with a scholarship by Costa Gavras. His body of work, four shorts and two feature films, has been selected at A-festivals worldwide (Cannes – Semaine de La Critique, Berlinale – Encounters, Venice – Orizzonti, Rotterdam, Telluride etc.) and has been acknowledged with numerous awards and distinctions worldwide including a European Film Academy nomination. In Greece, he won best short film director and best newcomer feature film director from the Greek Film Academy. His films have raised internationally acclaimed reviews about their meta aesthetics and daring narration and have been broadcasted by ARTE, Canal plus etc and prestigious platforms like Criterion. Last, he was also a member of the official Jury “Lion of the Future” at the 74th Venice IFF. His second feature film Arcadia premiered in Berlinale 2024, won the best male actor award in Hong Kong IFF, the Best Director award in Sarajevo IFF and was included in the final list of the EFA (European Film Awards) nominations, while the festival tour goes on.

Angeliki Papoulia
Angeliki Papoulia was born in Athens, Greece. She is an actress and theater director. She is internationally acclaimed for her starring roles in Yorgos Lanthimos’ films Dogtooth – which was nominated for an Oscar – Alps, and the director’s first English-speaking full-length film The Lobster, which was nominated for an Oscar award as well. Her career in cinema also includes many other roles in full-length films, such as Human Flowers of Flesh by Helena Wittmann, To a Land Unknown by Mahdi Fleifel, The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea by Syllas Tzoumerkas and Arcadia by Yorgos Zois, among others. She has been a jury member at the international film festivals of Locarno, Sarajevo, Istanbul, Karlovy Vary and also at the Berlinale. In 2004, she co-founded the Blitz Theatre Group. She has written, co-directed and acted in all the group’s performances. The group has presented its theatrical projects in various European festivals and theaters. Lately, she has co-directed theatrical plays at Luzerner Theater and Schauspielhaus Zürich, in Switzerland.