Behind The Haystacks, the feature debut from Greek writer/director Asimina Proedrou, is a Rashomon-style drama centred on a Greek family entangled in the refugee crisis. The film is making waves on the festival circuit, winning awards from Thessaloniki to Goa.
It is a far cry from the career path Proedrou thought she might take. “I have a master of science in international finance,” she explains. “And I worked for a metallurgy [mining] company in Greece for 14 years.”
Not a filmmaker’s typical journey, but Proedrou suggests this experience helps her navigate the complexities of the international film industry. In any case, it did not stop her from studying filmmaking while working. Her graduation short Red Hulk premiered at Clermont-Ferrand in 2014 and won several awards internationally.
Proedrou developed Behind The Haystacks while studying long distance for an MA in filmmaking at the UK’s Staffordshire University in collaboration with Raindance Film School (Raindance now runs an MA with De Montfort University), all the while maintaining her job. Divided into three chapters, the film centres on a father, a mother and their daughter as they are faced with moral challenges brought on by the refugee crisis. They live on the Greek side of Doiran Lake, the expanse that separates Greece from North Macedonia and where refugees attempt the crossing. “I wanted to tell a story about how society puts a lot of pressure on people,” says Proedrou, “how their relationships are formed, and how they submit to corrupt structures.”
Knowing the project would require a significant budget, she asked Raindance’s Tiska Wiedermann to connect her with someone who could offer advice about European co-productions. Wiedermann introduced her to UK-based unit production manager Anna Jancso, who became a mentor. Jancso joined the project as co-producer and helped find Behind The Haystacks’ Greek producer, Ioanna Bolomyti of Argonauts, and its German producer Markus Halberschmidt.
Proedrou developed the project through various programmes including Script Station — Talents Sarajevo in 2015 and 2016’s Berlinale Talents, as well as First Films First’s Goethe-Institut young directors’ academy and the Crossroads co-production forum at Thessaloniki.
But it was not until 2021 that Proedrou had to choose between her job in mining and the edit of Behind The Haystacks — she picked the latter. Three further features are in development, for which she expects to be looking for co-production partners soon.
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