EXCLUSIVE: Screen can unveil the first trailer for The Lion At My Back, set to have its world premiere in competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF). 

The film is directed by Cypriot filmmaker Tonia Mishiali and follows a teenage Senegalese asylum seeker crosses paths with a 40-year-old Cypriot woman quietly trying to rebuild her life, with their shared struggle for survival leading to an unexpected bond.

The Cyprus-shot film is in Greek and English language. It has been picked up for sales by Finland-UK company The Yellow Affair.

The lead production company is Mishiali’s Bark Like a Cat Films (Cyprus) in co-production with Katarzyna Ozga and Nicolas Steil of Iris Productions (Luxembourg) and Marinos Charalambous and Vladimir Subotic of Avaton Films (Greece). Antoine Simkine is an associate producer.

Cast includes Sokhna Diallo, Elena Kallinikou, Prokopis Agathocleous and Herodotos Miltiadous.

Mishiali has written the script with Dianne Jones and Simona Nobile.

Mishiali’s debut feature Pause was selected for Karlovy Vary’s East of the West Competition in 2018, ahead of winning the Fipresci prize at Thessaloniki.

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