A dark and genre-bending folktale set in a remote Greek mountain village, which also tells a queer coming-of-age story, is set to world premiere in London on Sat, June 6. The Boy With the Light-Blue Eyes, the feature directorial debut of Greek filmmaker Thanasis Neofotistos, which is tinged with fantasy and horror elements, will take the spotlight on the final night of the Screen Festival of SXSW London 2026.
The logline for the film, starring Giorgos Karydis, Pablo Soto, Syrmo Keke and Sofia Filippidou, hints at the mystery that awaits audiences. “Born under a curse, an unusually blue-eyed boy, longs for freedom and love in a remote mountain village ruled by superstition,” it reads.The boy’s name is Petros (Karydis) must hide behind a mask per his strict grandmother, who is the mayor, and his overprotective mother. The one light at the end of the tunnel for him is his bond with his friend Aemon. As the village believes he is cursed, “fear turns into violence, and Petros is forced to choose between submission and sacrifice,” the press notes for the movie hint.The film has had a long journey over the past decade through First Things First, an academy for young filmmakers from Southeastern Europe supported by the Goethe Institute, script development at the Mediterranean Film Institute and the Sarajevo Script Station and eventually participation in the Cannes Focus CoPro program in 2022.
