The award-winning Greek filmmaker accepted the invitation extended by GNO Artistic Director Giorgos Koumendakis and NEON Director Elina Kountouri to produce, write, and direct the short film Bleat, shot on the Greek island of Tinos in February 2020, and starring Oscar-winning American actor Emma Stone and acclaimed French actor Damien Bonnard.

The Artist on the Composer programme – run by the Greek National Opera and NEON [www.neon.org.gr/en] – connects pioneering contemporary artists and filmmakers/producers with orchestral music performed live. Through works that spring from the programme’s new commissions, each artist responds to, and enters into dialogue with pieces by classical composers, free from every standard operatic convention, trope and storyline, in the hope of reaching audiences who may never have connected with opera before.

Giorgos Koumendakis (GNO Artistic Director): “The programme aims at engaging contemporary artists in a creative dialogue with the live performance of symphonic music, by further exploring the way in which one can manage, transform and make best use of an opera house.”

Following on from The Artist on the Composer’s first commission – a 2019 installation by Nikos Navridis – the gifted and internationally renowned Greek film director Yorgos Lanthimos takes on the programme’s second commission to create a new cinematic work that will always be presented with the live accompaniment of music ensembles. The work’s music script consists of pieces by J. S. Bach / Knut Nystedt and Toshio Hosokawa, performed live inside the Stavros Niarchos Hall by the soloists Angelina Tkatcheva (cimbalom) and Wu Wei (sheng), the “Maria Callas” quartet, and the Chorus of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation.

Yorgos Lanthimos: “I am very happy to be back in Greece, even in this indirect way – producing a work to be presented as part of a fascinating music and visual arts cycle created by the Greek National Opera and NEON. I have always been interested in the positive effect that limitations can have on the creative process, and this invitation to craft a film accompanied exclusively by live music is something new for me, and most interesting too.”

Watch the trailer here:  https://youtu.be/4VrMvg-m_PE

About Yorgos Lanthimos
The multi-awarded Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos is considered today as one of the most sought-after creators in the world cinema with a recognizable style and an absolutely personal writing. His first full-length film Kineta was presented at the Toronto and Berlin film festivals. With his Dogtooth he conquered Cannes, where he won the “Un certain regard” prize and received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. The Alps won the best screenplay award in Venice, and the Lobster was presented in Cannes and was nominated for an Academy award for best original screenplay. His next movie The Killing of the Sacred Deer won the best screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival. His last film, The Favourite, brought him to the centre of global attention: it started its breathtaking course at the Venice Festival, received 10 Academy Award nominations, 12 BAFTA award nominations, won the Golden Globe and its box office revenues reached 100.000.000 dollars at a worldwide scale.