Alexander Payne at the curtain rise of the 2nd Evia Film Project
Two-time Academy Award winner Alexander Payne will attend the 2nd Evia Film Project (20-24 June 2023) to present his film Downsizing, a surrealistic social satire commenting on the aftereffect of climate change and the repercussions of overpopulation, at the curtain rise of the green action hosted by Thessaloniki Film Festival in Northern Evia.
Shortly before the premiere of his greatly anticipated new film, The Holdovers, starring Paul Giamatti, the beloved filmmaker and dear friend of the Festival, that has given us award-winning films like Sideways, Nebraska and The Descendants will come to Evia for the opening ceremony of the 2nd Evia Film Project. Downsizing will be screened at Ciné Apollon, renovated last year by the Festival and the Municipality of Istiea-Edipsos. The screening will be followed by a discussion between Alexander Payne and the audience.
The film’s director of photography, twice Academy Award nominee Phedon Papamichael, who has also Greek roots like Alexander Payne, will be present at the screening. Phedon Papamichael is DoP at the film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which was screened at Cannes, receiving a warm applause by the audience.
Downsizing is laying out a wild scenario to counterbalance the explosion of the planet’s population: what would happen if some Norwegian scientists found a way to shrink the dimensions of an ordinary man. The master of lowkey and reachable narratives, Alexander Payne, is focusing on a story of a couple (performed by Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig) that wishes to become a part of a community of tiny people that want to live in environmentally friendly micro-communities. The film is a biting comment on the utopias dreamt by ordinary common people and the stress that they put on the environment. Downsizing puts climate change and humanity under the microscope, while exploring the human-nature relationship.
Evia Film project is Thessaloniki Film Festival’s third pillar of actions, adding its name to Thessaloniki International Film Festival, held in November, and Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, held in March. Its goal is to consolidate Northern Evia, a region fiercely hit by the 2021 devastating wildfires, as an international green cinema hub.
Evia Film Project is carried out thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports and in collaboration with the Region of Central Greece, the Greek Film Centre, the Municipality of Istiea-Edipsos and the Municipality of Mantoudi-Limni-Agia Anna. Thessaloniki Film Festival is teaming up with all institutions and bodies seated in Evia and the Digital Arts and Cinema Department of the National and Kapodistrian University, based in Psachna.
