Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

 

SYNOPSIS

The father, the mother and their three kids live at the outskirts of a city. There is a tall fence surrounding the house. The kids have never been outside that fence. They are being educated, entertained, bored and exercised in the manner that their parents deem appropriate, without any influence from the outside world. They believe that the airplanes flying over are toys and that zombies are small yellow flowers. The only person allowed to enter the house is Christina. She works as a security guard at the father’s business. The father arranges her visits to the house in order to appease the sexual urges of the son. The whole family is fond of her, especially the eldest daughter. One day Christina gives her as a present a headband that has stones that glow in the dark and asks for something in return.

AWARDS

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FESTIVALS 2009

Cannes Film Festival, France
“Un Certain Regard” & “Prix De La Jeunesse”
Munich IFF, Germany
Cinédécouvertes (Bruxelles), Belgium
Jerusalem FF, Israel
Auckland IFF (New Zealand IFF), New Zealand
Melbourne IFF, Australia
Sarajevo FF, Bosnia and Herzegovina
“The Special Jury Award” & “Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress (Aggeliki Papoulia–Mary Tsoni)”
Toronto IFF, Canada
Reykjavik IFF, Iceland
Bangkok IFF, Thailand
Sitges FF, Spain
“Carnet Love Jury” & “Best Directional Revelation”
Vancouver IFF, Canada
Festival du Nouveau Cinema (Montreal), Canada
“Best Director”
Busan IFF, South Korea
Warsaw FF, Poland
BFI London FF, United Kingdom
Bergen IFF, Norway
São Paulo IFF – Mostra, Brazil
CINEMED – International Mediterranean FF (Montpellier), France
“Best Film”
Mumbai IFF, India
Leeds IFF, United Kingdom
Taipei Golden Horse FF, Taiwan
Estoril FF (Lisbon & Estoril FF), Portugal
“Grand Prize”
Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar Del Plata, Argentina
Stockholm IFF, Sweden
“Bronze Horse”
Around the World in 14 Films, Germany
Tallinn Black Nights FF, Estonia

FESTIVALS 2010

Pune IFF, India
Trieste FF, Italy
“Special Mention”
IFF Rotterdam, Netherlands
Glasgow FF, United Kingdom
Jameson Dublin IFF, Ireland
“Best Director”
Belgrade IFF, Serbia
SXSW Conference & Festivals (Austin), U.S.A.
Bradford IFF, United Kingdom
Hong Kong IFF, China
Flatpack FF (Birmingham), United Kingdom
New Directors/New Films Festival (New York), U.S.A.
Istanbul IFF, Turkey
Maryland FF (Baltimore), U.S.A
Sarasota FF, U.S.A
Cyprus Film Days IF, Cyprus
Nashville FF, U.S.A
RiverRun IFF (Winston–Salem), U.S.A
“Best Director”
CPH:PIX (Copenhagen), Denmark
Mosaico d’Europa FF, Italy
“Special Mention”
Crossing Europe FF (Linz), Austria
Mediterranean FF (Split), Croatia
Transilvania IFF, Romania
Two Riversides Film and Art Festival, Poland
IFF Cinematik (Piešťany), Slovakia
Helsinki IFF – Love & Anarchy, Finland
Riga IFF, Latvia
RO-IFF, Romania
Festival Internacional de Cine de Cali, Columbia
Ljubljana IFF – LIFFe, Slovenia
“Kingfisher Award”

FESTIVALS 2011

Mannheim-Heidelberg IFF – IFFMH, Germany
Mexico City IFF – FICC, Mexico
ENTUZIASM Kinobetriebs GmbH (Wien), Austria
Cinema Mundi IFF (Brno), Czech Republic
IF Weekend Würzburg, Germany
Midnight Sun Film Festival (Sodankylä), Finland
Bildrausch Filmfest Basel, Switzerland
Karlovy Vary IFF, Czech Republic
T-Mobile New Horizons FF (Wrocław), Poland
Manaki Brothers – International Cinematographers’ FF (Bitola), FYROM
Greek Film Week Munich, Germany

CAST

Father: Christos Stergioglou
Mother: Michele Valley
Older Daughter: Aggeliki Papoulia
Younger Daughter: Mary Tsoni
Son: Christos Passalis
Christina: Anna Kalaitzidou

CREDITS

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Written by Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthimis Filippou
Producer: Yorgos Tsourgiannis
Executive Producers: Iraklis Mavroidis, Angelos Venetis
Associate Producer: Athina Tsangari
Assistant Producer: Vicky Miha
Director of Photography: Thimios Bakatakis
Art Direction & Costumes: Elli Papageorgakopoulou
Editing: Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Sound: Leandros Ntounis
Production Manager: Stavros Hrisogiannis
Production Company: Boo Productions S.A.
Co-production: Greek Film Center, Yorgos Lanthimos, Horsefly Productions

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Duration: 96′
Format: 35mm, anamorphic (2.35:1), color
Sound: Dolby Digital
Country & Year of Production: Greece, 2009
Dialogue: Greek

INTERNATIONAL SALES

MK2
T.: +33 1 44 67 30 30
E-mail: intlsales@mk2.com

Official Facebook Page

 

REVIEWS

 

"Brilliant, dark and disconcertingly funny. One of the most distinctive, original and genuinely unsettling pieces of cinema to emerge over the past year."

− The Times

"A black-comic poem of dysfunction...this brilliant and bizarre film from the Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos is superbly acted and icily controlled – it grips from the very first scenes."

− Guardian

"The most stylish and entertaining family drama of the week, but also by some way the grimmest. Lanthimos follows through the situation – part Josef Fritzl, part philosophical experiment – with appalling logic, assisted by an excellent cast."

− Independent

"As harrowing as it is humorous, Lanthimos’ award-winning journey to a family’s heart of darkness is unflinchingly detailed, thought-provoking fare."

− Empire Online

"…the Greek helmer's sophomore pic does exude a strange fascination throughout."

− Variety

"The movie is a cool, eerie commentary on family dynamics and the dangerous power of adolescent sexual curiosity."

− Entertainment Weekly

"Somewhere up in the heaven he didn’t believe in, Buñuel is doubtless smiling approvingly."

− Gavin Smith, Film Comment

"Winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at Cannes, it will be branded by some as a highly significant statement and by others as a laborious, long-winded cerebral allegory."

− Dan Fainaru, Screen Daily

"The geometric framing and odd, almost robotic performances place this in the realms of science fiction more than human drama, but its insights into the anomalies of power, influence and manipulation are penetrating to say the least. Highly recommended."

− Time Out London

"Dogtooth is a delightfully twisted little fable from Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, with all the markings of a cult classic. Lanthimos elevates the material far above the mere exploitative, constructing a uniquely surreal yet oddly believable alternate universe amidst that Lynchian jungle of menace, the suburban backyard."

− Seth Abramovic, Movieline

"Dogtooth is a darkly comic and imaginative film and a deserved winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival."

− Arion McNicoll, TheTimes

"Having made out this unexpectedly funny scenario as a far grimmer proposition than it actually plays, Dogtooth in its cool detachment and highly stylised vignettes is too much of a movie for its ugliness to be taken seriously. Lanthimos has filmed something of a Wes Anderson look-a-like, preened and lustily shot, and yet with the glacial mundaneness of a Michael Haneke tableaux."

− The Lumière Reader

PHOTOS