This is the Greek programme of the 11th Beyond Borders

The 11th Beyond Borders (August 23–30, 2026) is proud to present a total of 8 + 2 Greek films. Specifically, 8 Greek productions and co-productions will compete in the Main and μicro Competition Sections, while 2 additional exceptional Greek creations will be featured in the Panorama (non-competitive) section.

These films capture the contemporary Greek and global reality with unique sensitivity, touching upon deep personal and collective quests. Through their narratives, the filmmakers transport us from the microcosm of adolescence and ecstatic rituals of deliverance, to the abandoned villages of Imbros; and from the provocative, subversive journeys of trailblazing figures in New York, to a spiritual pilgrimage of faith in the depths of Cappadocia.

At the same time, they open a daring dialogue on the impacts of overtourism in Naxos and Cape Town, bridge the shadow puppet traditions between Greece and China, and invite us to sense the world through the perception of a congenitally blind individual or through the remnants of an abandoned house in Athens.

The primary institutional partner of Beyond Borders is EKKOMED (the Hellenic Center for Audiovisual Media and Creative Industries), the state agency dedicated to promoting Greek audiovisual production both domestically and internationally.

Alongside the film screenings, a series of high-profile industry events will take place, generating strong interest among Greek film professionals. The 11th edition of Beyond Borders is thrilled to mark the launch of the inaugural Co-Production Development Forum. Designed as a high-caliber project development workshop, this pilot program in its first year of operation is aimed exclusively at Greek productions and co-productions, seeking to provide Greek filmmakers with the essential tools, knowledge, and international networks required for their projects to succeed in the global market. The Co-Production Development Forum will be held from August 24 to 27 at the Santrapeia School in Kastellorizo.

Under the expert guidance of Rudy Buttignol, C.M., one of the most distinguished figures in international public broadcasting and former head of the Knowledge Network, participating creative teams will engage in a four-day program of intensive workshops, masterclasses, and one-on-one consulting sessions.

The forum aspires to bridge the gap between domestic talent and the international audiovisual industry, giving project creators the opportunity to pitch their ideas directly to leading executives. Among this year’s guest experts arriving in Kastellorizo—offering a unique opportunity for direct contact with key industry decision-makers—are Adel Ksiksi (Al Jazeera Documentary), Claudia Bucher (ARTE GEIE), Peter Arens (ZDF), and Lefteris Fylaktos (ERT).

This initiative is implemented under the auspices of EKKOMED, marking a significant milestone for the international outreach of Greek documentary filmmaking. By fostering international collaborations and spotlighting Greek creativity, the forum substantially strengthens the country’s presence on the global cinematic map—in a highly symbolic year, as Athens prepares to host the 39th European Film Awards Ceremony. The projects selected to participate this year are: The Empire (directed/produced by Dimitra Babadima), Child Brides: The Missing Piece (directed by Fotini Lampridi & produced by Marina Danezi), Ideal Homeland (directed/produced by Grigoris Vardarinos), Hitler’s Excavation at Olympia (directed/produced by Nikos Chrisikakis), and Music From the Unseen Journey: Tcha’s Journey (directed by Petros Kolotouros & produced by Leonidas Liambeys).

Finally, on Friday, August 28, a special informational session will be held in collaboration with EKKOMED. The event will focus on the agency’s new international outreach programs, as well as the support, funding, and development tools available to the domestic audiovisual industry.

Below are the detailed synopses of the films competing in the Main and μicro Competition Sections, as well as those featured in the Panorama, accompanied by filmmaker biographies.

All film trailers and complete program details for the 2026 edition are available on the official festival website: www.beyondborders.gr

Main Competition Section

Bugboy, Loukas Paleokrassas, 86’ Greece, 2026: George, a shy teenager struggling with strabismus and his parents’ traumatic divorce, finds solace in the world of insects. His unexpected bond with a cricket becomes the catalyst for a moving journey of self-discovery and coming-of-age.

Loukas Paleokrassas is an Athens-based documentary filmmaker. His work focuses on how young people navigate change, identity, and the sense of belonging. His film Final Year (2022) premiered at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, winning Best Feature Film at the Olympia International Film Festival and Best Greek Documentary at AegeanDocs. He is a fellow of the ARTWORKS program and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

EXILE(S), Stories of an Island, Giorgos Iliopoulos, 130’ Greece, 2026: One hundred years after the Treaty of Lausanne, the inhabitants of Imbros search for a new present amid ruined villages and shifted borders. A living cultural palimpsest where memory and a challenging coexistence redefine daily life on the island.

Giorgos Iliopoulos (b. 1986, Ioannina) is an Athens-based documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. He studied Film at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and completed his MFA at Edinburgh Napier University on a British Film Institute scholarship, receiving the Medal of Excellence. Since 2015, he has been directing and producing television and independent documentaries, including the VICE Specials series (2017–2019).

True to our inner daemons, Tasos Goletsos, 90’ Greece, 2025: Somewhere between reality and magic, everyday people immerse themselves in ecstatic rituals, searching for redemption and absolute freedom. An atmospheric journey of physical transformation and faith, where the protagonists surrender to whatever calls them from the depths of their souls.

Tasos Goletsos was born in Athens and raised in Volos. He studied Economics at the University of Piraeus and New Media in Brussels. He began his career as a video artist and VJ in 2008, showcasing his work in underground clubs and the streets of Athens. Since 2015, he has directed over 50 music videos and commercials. Beside Oneself is his debut feature film as director, producer, and cinematographer.

μicro Competition Section

Behind the Shadows, Konstantinos Potamianos, 13’ Greece-China, 2025: A cultural dialogue between a Greek shadow puppeteer (Karagiozis performer) and a Chinese master of shadow puppetry. The film stems from the director’s need to revisit his childhood memories, tracing the ancient roots of an art form crafted from light and darkness.

Konstantinos Potamianos was born in Patras in 2005 and has been involved in filmmaking from an early age. His first short documentary, The Call of the Lighthouses, premiered in 2022. Since then, he has active roles in directing and cinematography, creating short films such as Behind the Shadows (China, 2025) and Abandonment of Hearths (Greece, 2025). He is also a musician (drummer) and collaborated with the Athens State Orchestra in 2024 on an adaptation of George Gershwin’s work for Jazz Piano Trio and symphonic orchestra. He is currently studying at the Department of Digital Arts and Cinema of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, exploring ways to merge different art forms through film.

Emery, Marble and Vine, Orestis Rouskas, 21’ Greece, 2025: Faced with the suffocating pressure of overtourism, several residents of Naxos put forward an alternative way of living and creating. A film about the daily resistance required to safeguard the authentic soul of the island.

Orestis Rouskas is an Athens-based director. He graduated from the Department of Communication, Media and Culture at Panteion University and holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Management. He has worked on film productions as an assistant director and script supervisor, and is active as a film programmer for the Micro μ Festival in Chania. He served as Production Manager for the Animasyros International Animation Festival in 2024 and 2025, and organized the inaugural conference of the International Centre of Films for Children and Young People (CIFEJ) in Athens in May 2025. His latest short film, Emery, Marble and Vine (2025), premiered at the Drama International Short Film Festival, where it won the Documentary Award. He is currently working in Karlsruhe as a Guest Artist at the ZKM | Center for Art and Media, creating video documentation works for the institution.

Just Come, Konstantina Liontou, 21’ Greece-South Africa, 2026: Langa, Cape Town’s oldest township, is gradually transforming from a somber relic of Apartheid into a tourist attraction. The residents themselves speak about their right to narrate their own history, redefining the terms of tourism within their community.

Konstantina Liontou is a Greek filmmaker who recently completed her postgraduate studies in Film and Media in Cape Town. Her work explores the intersection of travel and tourism with contemporary social issues. Just Come marks her directorial documentary debut.

Our Homes Do Not Exist, Anna Lamour, 14’ France-Greece, 2025: Shot on Super 8 film, this visual diary captures the slow fragmentation of a family home in Athens. Through a wandering journey across inhabited and abandoned spaces, a desire emerges to invent a new, collective homeland built on the ruins of reality.

Anna Lamour is a French-Greek filmmaker. She studied film at Brooklyn College, New York, and screenwriting at Paris IV-Sorbonne University. Her films explore questions of identity, belonging, and the role of faith as a narrative driving force. Our Homes Do Not Exist is her documentary debut. In parallel, she works as a script supervisor, story researcher, and writing consultant for international productions, and is currently developing her first fiction feature film.

Through Torn Curtains, Valia Chatzichristodoulou, 25’ Greece, 2026, World Premiere: How does a congenitally blind person construct visual images? An atmospheric documentary about Konstantinos, who perceives colors and shapes beyond sight, smells the color green, feels the light, and guides us through his own deeply poetic perspective of the world.

Valia Chatzichristodoulou is a Film student at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She is currently working on her thesis film with a focus on production and production design, and has already worked as a production and costume designer on student films. Her artistic interests lie in documentary and experimental cinema, aiming to merge the two genres to highlight the poetic dimension of everyday life. Dreams and nightmarish dreamscapes are central themes of her creative research. She has participated in the Chania Film Festival (CFF) and the Skopelos International Film Festival for Youth (SIFFY). Through Torn Curtains is her debut short documentary.

Panorama (non-competitive section)

Queen of Deuce, Valerie Kontakos, 78’ Greece-Canada, 2022: Chelly Wilson (born Rachel Serero) was an educated Jewish woman and the first female driver in Greece. When WWII broke out, she was on a ship bound for the US, leaving her children behind. Having escaped the Holocaust, she built a new family and erased her past. Following the Stonewall riots, she stopped screening Greek films and ventured into adult cinema, ultimately becoming the most prominent owner of adult movie theaters in New York.

Valerie Kontakos is originally from New York and moved to Athens in 2003. After graduating from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she worked in feature film and commercial production before meeting legendary documentarians David and Albert Maysles. Working with them inspired her to focus exclusively on documentaries. Her work has been broadcast on international networks. She served as Deputy Director of the Hellenic Foundation in New York, where she founded the Greek Film Festival. She has also taught at Queens College, City University of New York. In 2007, she founded her production company, Exile Films, and is currently a board member of the Greek Film Archive (Tainiothiki tis Ellados).

Light of Cappadocia, Irini Sarioglou, 70’ Greece, 2025: Light of Cappadocia follows an absorbing pilgrimage in the footsteps of two of the most recently canonized Saints of the Orthodox Church: Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian and Saint Paisios the Athonite. Traveling from Farasa in Cappadocia to Mount Athos, two monks revive their divine heritage, revealing the endurance of faith through prayer, trials, and miracles. The documentary blends archival material, testimonies of believers and monastics, and breathtaking cinematic footage from Cappadocia and Greece, bringing to light narratives and historical information presented for the first time. Through this multi-layered narrative and the eyes of its protagonists, the lives of these two modern Saints unfold, inviting the viewer to immerse themselves in a journey of faith, wonder, and reflection.

Irini Sarioglou was born in Istanbul in 1972. A graduate of the Zappeion School, she studied French Language and Literature at Marmara University and the University of Grenoble. She completed her postgraduate studies with scholarships from the Onassis Foundation and IKY at the University of Birmingham (UK) in the Department of Byzantine, Ottoman, and Modern Greek Studies. She has taught Ottoman and Turkish History at the University of Athens and the National Centre for Public Administration, and served for over ten years as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Modern Greek Studies at Istanbul University. She is the co-founder and president of the Hellenic History Foundation (IDISME) and, since 2016, serves as the Artistic Director of the Beyond Borders International Documentary Festival of Kastellorizo.

Festival Photos can be found HERE and stills from this year’s films HERE. The trailer for the 11th edition can be found HERE.

For more information you can visit the website www.beyondborders.gr or contact the Festival at info@beyondborders.gr.

Stay tuned for all actions and news of Beyond Borders, by following the Festival on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

Organization: Hellenic History Foundation (IDISME).

Under the Auspices of The General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Main Institutional Partner Greek Film Center, Audiovisual Media and Creation (EKKOMED)

Supporters Hellenic Parliament, Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), Latsis Foundation

Award Sponsors ERT, ZDF, GGAEDD

Technical Coverage & Catalog Sponsor Ministry of National Defence (YPETHA)

Subtitling Sponsors Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Athens Embassy of Spain in Athens Embassy of Slovakia in Athens Embassy of Norway in Athens, French Institute of Greece