Michel is an ex-punk who spends half his life in his garage and half in his flat, a converted cellar. With Leo, his teenage son, they get up to all sorts of mischief while simultaneously trying to manage looking after the baby Michel just had with Hélène, his ex-wife. Needless to say, his years of drugs and alcohol haven’t left him unscathed. Ο Michel είναι ένας πρώην πανκ που περνάει τη μισή ζωή του στο γκαράζ του την άλλη μισή στο διαμέρισμά του, ένα ανακαινισμένο κελάρι. Με τον Λίο, τον έφηβο γιο του σκαρφίζονται διαφόρων ειδών κόλπα, ενώ ταυτόχρονα προσπαθούν να φροντίσουν το μωρό που μόλις έκανε ο Michel με την πρώην σύζυγό του Hélène. Φυσικά τα χρόνια των ναρκωτικών και του αλκοόλ δεν τον έχουν αφήσει αλώβητο. psarokokalo.org

Since his father left for Nice, Daniel, 25, tries to manage Sole Mio Father & son, the family heating company. He is back in Lille for a night, as he is getting the final operation to definitely become a woman : Lisa. But Daniel’s Mum doesn’t know about this change, and the lie is weighing heavier on the young boy’s shoulders. Από τότε που ο πατέρας του έφυγε για τη Νίκαια, ο Ντάνιελ, 25 ετών, προσπαθεί να διαχειριστεί την Sole Mio Father & son, την οικογενειακή εταιρεία θέρμανσης. Τώρα ο πατέρας του βρίσκεται πίσω στη Λιλ για μια νύχτα, για να κάνει την τελευταία επέμβαση που θα τον κάνει τελικά γυναίκα: τη Lisa. Αλλά η μαμά του Ντάνιελ δεν γνωρίζει τίποτα γι' αυτή την αλλαγή, και το ψέμα γίνεται ακόμη πιο βαρύ στους ώμους του νεαρού αγοριού.

Nestled between a beautiful lake and the Himalayas, Ashmina, 13, lives with her family at the outskirts of Pokhara Nepal, paragliding capital of the world. The remote and traditional town is also a busy tourist destination where the locals are profoundly affected by the swarms of tourists who visit it daily. Forced to skip school, Ashmina helps her family make ends meet by working at the landing field, packing the parachutes of foreign pilots in return of small change. Φωλιασμένο ανάμεσα σε μια όμορφη λίμνη και τα Ιμαλάια, η Pokhara του Νεπάλ, είναι η πρωτεύουσα του κόσμου στο αλεξίπτωτο πλαγιάς. Η Ashmina, 13 ετών, ζει με την οικογένειά της στα περίχωρα της. Η απομακρυσμένη και παραδοσιακή αυτή πόλη είναι παράλληλα ένας πολυσύχναστος τουριστικός προορισμός όπου οι ντόπιοι επηρεάζονται βαθιά από τα σμήνη των τουριστών που την επισκέπτονται καθημερινά. Αναγκασμένη να εγκαταλείψει το σχολείο, η Αshmina βοηθάει την οικογένειά της να τα βγάλει πέρα κι εργάζεται στους χώρους προσγείωσης, συσκευάζοντας τα αλεξίπτωτα των ξένων πιλότων με πολύ μικρό αντίτιμο.

Living in war-torn Eastern Ukraine Anna is an aging single mother who is desperate for a change. Lured by a radio advertisement, she goes to party with a group of American men who are touring the country, searching for love. Anna was shot in January-February 2019 in Ukraine and complete in May 2019. It premiered on May 15th, at the Cannes Film Festival, in Competition for the Short Palme d’Or. Ζώντας σε μία Ανατολική Ουκρανία διχασμένη από τον πόλεμο η Άννα είναι μια γηράσκουσα ανύπαντρη μητέρα απελπισμένη για μια αλλαγή. Δελεασμένη από μια ραδιοφωνική διαφήμιση, συνδέεται με μια ομάδα αμερικανών ανδρών που περιοδεύουν στη χώρα, ψάχνοντας για την αγάπη. H Άννα γυρίστηκε τον Ιανουάριο-Φεβρουάριο του 2019 στην Ουκρανία και ολοκληρώθηκε τον Μάιο του 2019. Έκανε πρεμιέρα στις 15 Μαΐου, στο Φεστιβάλ Κινηματογράφου των Καννών, στο Διαγωνισμό για το Short Palme d'Or. DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT - I first visited Ukraine in 2012. It was an important step for me personally as my grandmother was born in Khust, a small Ukrainian border town. She witnessed how Ukraine, like the rest of Eastern Europe became a part of the USSR, and then later gained its independence, which is now once again threatened. When I went, I was fascinated by the mixture of Eastern and Western traditions, by the people, and was heartbroken by Ukraine's poverty and the rampant corruption that plagues its institutions. In the nightclubs of Odessa, on a hot summer evening, I witnessed events similar to the ones depicted in 'Anna'. These clubs are notorious for being hot spots for the type of men and women who seek others while harboring secret agendas. The men ogle women as if they were the pieces of meat hanging in Anna's workplace. The women size up the men according to the perceived value of their shoes. The men, hoping to take advantage of the women's despair and desire to move abroad, try to seduce them with promises of a possible relationship. The women, pretending to be unaware of the obvious scheme, make promises of their own and scam free drinks, expensive dinners, and gifts from the men. The savviest and most determined women will, in turn, seduce naive men with promises of love and everlasting marriage, only to quickly divorce them once they set foot in their new home country. So, each side attempts to take advantage of the other and more often than not fails at it but then returns the next evening for more of the same. For underneath the cynicism and objectification there is the driving force of hope, that on one of these evenings an interaction will lead to something deeper and more meaningful - a real connection based on genuine feelings, a relationship that will lead to a better life. Observing what went on at the nightclubs inspired me to look deeper into this cultural phenomenon and to discover the existence of the “love tours” that are depicted in 'Anna.' I found the subject compelling enough to return to Ukraine six years after my original visit, and capture it on film. In 'Anna' the backdrop is wintry and cold, but regardless of a country's regions everyone ultimately harbors dreams and aspirations. These international dating events, which have been organized since the fall of the Iron Curtain, continue to take place, with groups arriving in Ukraine many times a year. The mass parties in which men are usually outnumbered 1 to 10, now take place almost exclusively in East Ukraine, the industrial and more impoverished part of the country. Ironically, Svetlana Barandich who portrays Anna participated in such an event more than 20 years ago. And, an actress that we auditioned for the role of the translator told us that she was recently hired as a translator for one of these events. She said that, similarly to the corresponding scene in 'Anna', she would make up conversations and that “All men and women were always Leo,” for it was the only astrological sign for which she knew the English word. This is an important story of hope and despair, one which I have attempted to capture as authentically as I could. Written and Directed by Dekel Berenson Cinematography by Volodymyr Ivanov Produced by Merlin Merton, Dekel Berenson Producers - Ukraine - Vitaliy Shermetiev, Olga Beskhmelnytsina Executive Producers - Natalia Libet, Elad Keidan, Dima Konoplov CAST Аnna - Svetlana Barandich Alina - Anastasia Vyazovskaya Eric - Eric R. Gilliatt Translator -Alina Chornogub Party Organiser - Liana Khobelia Ian - Istan Rozumny Drunk Man - Pavel Levitsky