The short film Blue Train by Manolis Mavris will be screened just before (more information below).

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Yorgos (Papadopoulos) is a 23-year-old man with an exemplary singing voice. Unable to find a job that allows him to make use of his talent, he struggles to earn his living and is left with just enough coins to fit inside a Kinder egg capsule. Finding it impossible to pay the bills or buy food, he survives by eating the seeds he buys to feed his pet canary. Becoming physically and emotionally weak, he refuses to ask for financial help from friends and family, admitting to the girl he desires that his hunger-stricken life has taken him to the border of insanity. 

Ektoras Lygizos

(1976, Athens, Greece) studied Greek Literature and Film Directing. Until recently primarily worked in theater, directing productions of plays by Beckett, Ibsen, Chekhov. In 2004 he competed at Venice in the Corto Cortissimo section with the short film “Pure Youth”… “Boy Eating the Bird’s Food” (2012) is his feature film debut.

Blue Train – by Manolis Mavris

UK 2014, 15′, English with German subtitles

30-year-old Liam, pervaded by a feeling of childhood nostalgia takes a trip in time, in his phobias and memories, to find his true identity and his Utopian past. The final destination of his coach journey is an imaginary mountain, the top of which represents his early years. The passengers who visit him whilst in the train of memories are key characters from his life who have played a determining role in shaping his personality. The train is a non place, where reality meets fiction. This is a trip towards Liam’s unreachable goal, ending in him embracing himself and his past.

Manolis Mavris

was born in Athens in 1987. Coming from an art and visual communication background he started his career by working for the Greek artwork at Venice Biennale. He moved on into animation and worked for several TV commercials and short films in Greece. He then furthered his studies at Central Saint Martins College in London where he moved into direction and completed his first short film Blue Train. Blue Train has been nominated as Best Of British at Leeds International Film Festival 2014 and had its American Premier in Los Angeles Greek Film Festival in June 2015. Manolis has been working on English TV series and has been working for music videos and advertisements in both London and Athens.

release date:

2012

director:

Ektoras Lygizos

starring:

Yiannis Papadopoulos, Lila Mpaklesi, Vangelis Kommatas a.o.

country:

Greece

duration:

80 mins

languages:

Greek with German subtitles