Greek filmmaker Thanasis Neofotistos has released a clip from his debut feature The Boy With the Light-Blue Eyes ahead of the film's world premiere at SXSW London on June 4, 2026. The clip was published by The Hollywood Reporter and offers the first publicly available footage from the production ahead of its London debut.
A dark folktale from rural Greece
The film follows Petros, a boy born under a curse in a remote mountain village ruled by superstition. According to Variety, Petros longs for freedom and love but must hide behind a mask at the insistence of his strict grandmother, who serves as the village mayor, and his overprotective mother. His friendship with another boy named Aemon becomes his only source of hope. Neofotistos has described the project as a queer coming-of-age story aimed at "all who don't belong," and the director has positioned the work as a genre-bending folktale rather than a straight drama, tinged with elements of fantasy and horror.
Cast and crew
The cast is led by Giorgos Karydis, Pablo Soto, Syrmo Keke and Sofia Filippidou. Neofotistos co-wrote the screenplay with Grigoris Skarakis, with Djordje Arambasic serving as cinematographer and Panagiotis Angelopoulos as editor. The project developed for nearly a decade through several international film institutions, including the Cannes Focus CoPro program in 2022, per earlier reporting by Variety. Production partners on the feature include Willa, Astrakan, Cold Iron and Argonauts.
SXSW London 2026
The screening takes place on the closing night of the Screen Festival at SXSW London, the festival's inaugural edition and its first expansion outside Austin, Texas. The premiere is set for Thursday, June 4, 2026 in central London. Neofotistos, previously known for his short films, has spent years building toward this feature debut.
The newly released clip arrives as international programmers and buyers begin to circle the title ahead of its festival bow.
