Sofía Exarchou

She was born in 1979 in Athens (Greece), where she studied electrical engineering at the National Technical University of Athens and filmmaking at the Stavrakos Film School. She studied theatre at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York and pursued post-graduate film studies in Toulouse. Since 2009 she has worked as an assistant director and as a freelance director and screenwriter. She has written and directed two short films, ‘Distance’ (2006) and the award-winning ‘Mesecina’ (2009). In 2014, she was selected for the Sundance Screenwriter’s & Director’s Lab. ‘Park’ (2016), her first feature film, premiered at Toronto IFF and San Sebastian IFF, where it won the New Directors Award. The film was part of the Supernovas retrospective in Seminci 2017. Her sophomore feature film, ‘Animal’ (2023), won her the best performance award for her leading actress, Dimitra Vlagopoulou, at the Locarno Film Festival. The film was also selected for Meeting Point at the 68th Seminci, where it won a special mention from the jury. ‘Animal’ also won Best Film Award at Thessaloniki IFF, Cork IFF, Vancouver IFF and LAGFF plus numerous other awards in various festivals such as FIPRESC Award at Mannheim IFF, Best Performance Award at Les Arcs FF and Thessaloniki IFF, etc. Animal also won 7 Hellenic Film Academy Awards(Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Leading &Supporting Actress, Best Editing and Best Sound).