ABOUT DIRECTOR
Born in Chania in ’94, Stavros Markoulakis is a writer, director and film programmer. He graduated from the School of Communication and Media of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, studied acting in Athens, and completed the postgraduate program Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image at the University of Amsterdam. He is a Locarno Industry Academy (2021), Sarajevo Talents (2023) and Locarno U30 (2024) Alumnus.
His films, balancing between the real and the imaginary, aim to research the state of belonging, the different ways of perceiving time and reality, as well as the human relationships and non-human connections in our universe. His first short film, Madonna f64.0 (2020) won the first Drama Queer award at the 43rd Drama ISFF, following the establishment of the award at the festival. His sophomore film, Pigeons are Dying, when the City is on Fire (2023), a poetic tale of urban love and cosmic fire, premiered at the Sarajevo Film Festival, screened at the International Competition of Clermont Ferrand ISFF and Palm Springs ShortFest, and and is qualified for the Academy Awards (Grand Prix Festival Curta Cinema). He currently develops his debut feature Sunbruise (Midpoint Feature Launch 2024).
In recent years he has worked in the Programme Department of several film festivals (IFFR, Thessaloniki FF, Aegean FF, etc) and continues as Q&A Coordinator at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, as Head of Programme at Leiden Shorts, and as Film Programmer at Anafi International Film Festival.