Skip to main content
Animal film image

North American Premiere

As residents of a small Greek island prepare for the influx of fellow European tourists seeking the best summer experience their modest earnings can buy, the “animatuers” at the local hotel resort dust off their shiny costumes and revive cheesy dance routines to keep the masses entertained. But the arrival of seasonal reinforcements prompts some soul-searching for the veteran dancer, Kalia, who’s been with the group for so long that she lost sight of how she got there in the first place.

Following her acclaimed feature debut, Park (2016), Sofia Exarchou turns her gaze on a fringe community of performers caught up in a cycle of exploitative seasonal entertainment and captures with heartbreaking precision the erosion of artists’ hopes and dreams. Lead actress Dimitra Vlagopoulou, who recently won the Best Actress Award for her performance at the Locarno Film Festival, brings incredible depth and nuance to her portrayal of the ever pleasant and ready-to-party Kalia, masking the profound sense of defeat she carries underneath.

 

Best Actress, Locarno 2023

 

Presented by

Director
Cast

Dimitra Vlagopoulou, Flomaria Papadaki, Ahilleas Hariskos, Voodoo Jürgens, Ilias Hatzigeorgiou

Credits
Country of Origin

Greece/Austria/Romania/
Cyprus/Bulgaria

Year

2023

Language

In Greek, English and German with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
117 min
Drama LGBTQIA2S+ Women Directors

Book Tickets

Saturday September 30

6:15 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
The Cinematheque
Book Now

Friday October 06

6:00 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
Vancity Theatre
Book Now

Credits

Producer

Maria Drandaki, Maria Kontogianni

Screenwriter

Sofia Exarchou

Cinematography

Monika Lenczewska

Editor

Dragos Aperti, Nikos Vavouris

Production Design

Jorien Sont

Original Music

Wolfgang Frisch

Director

Sofia Exarchou headshot

Sofia Exarchou

Sofia Exarchou was born in Athens. She studied electrical engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, film direction at the Stavrakos Film School and theater at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York. She pursued post graduate film studies at Esav in Toulouse, France. In 2014, she was selected for the Sundance Screenwriter’s & Director’s Lab. Park, her first feature film, premiered at Toronto IFF and San Sebastian IFF, where it won the New Directors Award. Since then, it has participated and won awards in numerous international film festivals (Rotterdam IFF, BFI, Thessaloniki IFF – Best Actress & Best Greek Film, European Film Festival Palic-Best European Film, Greek Film Academy – Best First Feature & Best Sound Award etc). Animal is Sofia’s sophomore feature film.

Filmography: Park (2016)

Vanguard

See more films in this series:

Bitten

Action & Suspense Drama Horror & Sci-Fi Romance

Françoise wakes up from an ominous dream that seems to foreshadow her imminent death. Not wanting to waste a minute of her remaining time, she consults her crystal pendulum and convinces her best friend Delphine to attend a mysterious costume party.

Vancity Theatre

On the Go

Action & Suspense Art, Music & Photography Comedy LGBTQIA2S+ Romance Women Directors

Questioning her desire to have a child, a mid-thirties woman embarks on a road trip with her best friend, who is working through his own commitment issues. Their journey turns into a whirlwind of roadside drama and unexpected self-discoveries.

The Cinematheque
Animal
Animal film image

Animal

Drama LGBTQIA2S+ Women Directors

Residents of a Greek island prepare for fellow European tourists seeking the best summer experience their modest earnings can buy, the "animatuers" at the local hotel resort dust off their shiny costumes and dance to keep the masses entertained.

The Cinematheque Vancity Theatre

Octopus Skin

Drama LGBTQIA2S+ Women Directors

Three siblings live with an emotionally stunted mother on a remote island off the coast of Ecuador, cocooned and deeply mistrustful of the world outside their bubble. But dark secrets loom, pulling the eldest daughter toward city life.

The Cinematheque Vancity Theatre
The Sea and Its Waves
The Sea and Its Waves film image

The Sea and Its Waves

Art, Music & Photography Drama Women Directors

Like a film poem, The Sea and Its Waves follows a brother and sister as they pass through an almost deserted Beirut on their way out of the country. Bathed in moonlight and flickering city lights, this is atmospheric, transcendental cinema.

The Cinematheque Vancity Theatre

Tomorrow Is a Long Time

Drama LGBTQIA2S+

In this stirring coming-of-age drama grounded in the complex father-son dynamic, 16-year-old Meng is trying to find common ground with his emotionally distant father and military service is on the horizon.

The Cinematheque Vancity Theatre

The Face of the Jellyfish

Art, Music & Photography Comedy Drama Women Directors

Thirty-something Marina wakes up to a completely new face. Cutting herself off from friends and colleagues, she pours through family archives to make sense of the surreal development. With no practical solution in sight, a world of possibility opens up.

The Cinematheque Vancity Theatre

Let Me Go

Drama Romance

This erotically charged drama centers on a mature single woman seeking companionship through intimate encounters with men staying at a remote Swiss mountain chalet. A modern romance featuring an enigmatic, meticulously put-together dame.

The Cinematheque Vancity Theatre