A VERY CERTAIN DEFIANCE: Master Class with Award-Winning Greek Director Syllas Tzoumerkas

EFP (European Film Promotion) and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) are delighted to announce that the acclaimed Greek director Syllas Tzoumerkas will be this year's mentor for EFP FUTURE FRAMES - Generation NEXT of European Cinema at KVIFF from June 30 to July 3. In an exclusive master class entitled "A Very Certain Defiance", he will give advice to the up-and-coming directors on how best to step out into the international film industry. Tzoumerkas' involvement is part of an intensive programme introducing the emerging professionals to the film industry and media as well as presenting their work to the festival audience. The initiative is supported by the Creative Europe – Media Programme and the respective EFP member organisations.

Syllas Tzoumerkas, who will present his visually compelling psychological drama The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea centring on dark secrets and violence in a small Greek town in special screenings at KVIFF, about the master class: "A Very Certain Defiance will be a talk about core choices for directors when it comes to building a movie, and about ways to navigate the European film world's realities, protecting and expanding your creative freedom, independence and spirit, while using all the tools out there."

About the director:

Syllas Tzoumerkas was born in Thessaloniki in 1978. He writes, directs and acts for cinema and theatre. His feature films Homeland (2010), A Blast (2014) and The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea (2019) had their world premieres in Venice, Locarno and Berlin, respectively, participating in many festivals and being theatrically released in many countries around the world. In addition, Homeland received five awards from the Hellenic Film Academy (including Best First Film Director). He is currently co-directing the cross-media project The City and the City with Christos Passalis.

The trailer will premiere on the websites of EFP's media partner Cineuropa and KVIFF's media partner novinky.cz.

The following national film promotion institutes (EFP member organisations) support EFP FUTURE FRAMES - Generation NEXT of European Cinema: Association of Filmmakers of Bosnia & Herzegovina, British Council, Czech Film Center, German Films, Film Fund Luxembourg, Hungarian National Film Fund, National Film Centre of Latvia, Slovak Film Institute, Swedish Film Institute, and Swiss Films.