International premiere
Buzzheart
How far would you go to prove your love when a family pushes your limits beyond reason?
In 1990s Athens, shy 19-year-old Argyris finds himself unexpectedly dating Mary, a beautiful girl seemingly out of his league. When she invites him to her parents’ secluded country home, the weekend quickly spirals into something far darker. Her parents, claiming to protect their fragile daughter, insist on putting Argyris through a series of increasingly bizarre and brutal tests to prove his worth. The deeper Argyris goes, the more the family’s dysfunctional dynamics come to light, transforming his visit into a twisted game of survival, where he realises that nothing about this family – or Mary herself – is what it seems.
Aided by powerfully sinister performances, atmospheric cinematography and a suspensefully eerie score, “Buzzheart” carefully balances thriller, horror, and dark comedy to craft a slow-burning, tense exploration of love, manipulation, and control.
Massimo Iannetti
Dennis Iliadis (1969) is a cosmopolitan Greek filmmaker who has made a name for himself in Hollywood as a director of horror films and thrillers. He was born in Athens but grew up in Paris and Rio de Janeiro. Dennis Iliadis studied filmmaking at Brown University in Rhode Island and the Royal College of Art in London. With his graduation film “Ole” (1994), he won the European Film Comet Award. Iliadis’ first feature film, “Hardcore” (PÖFF 2004) – which depicts the lives of four teenage prostitutes in modern Greece – topped the Variety Critics' Choice: Europe Now list. The director’s Hollywood debut, a remake of the thriller “The Last House on the Left” (2009), was also successful, winning the Silver Raven at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. Dennis Iliadis is also an acclaimed playwright.
Hardcore (PÖFF 2004), The Last House on the Left (Viimane maja vasakul, 2009), +1 (2013), Delirium (2018), Buzzheart (2024)
Grand Prix for The Best Film, grant of 20 000 euros from the city of Tallinn, Award for Best Director, grant of 5000€ from Alexela
