Stavros Markoulakis

Born in Chania, Crete, Stavros Markoulakis is a writer, director, and film programmer, living between Greece and the Netherlands. He graduated from the School of Communication and Media of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, studied acting in Athens, and completed the postgraduate program “Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image” at the University of Amsterdam. He is a Locarno Industry Academy (2021), Sarajevo Talents (2023), and Locarno U30 (2024) Alumnus. His films, balancing between the real and the imaginary, aim to explore the spectrum of love and pain, the state of belonging, the different ways of perceiving time and reality, as well as the human relationships and non-human connections in our universe. His first short film, “Madonna f64.0” (2020) won the first Drama Queer award at the 43rd Drama ISFF, following the establishment of the award at the festival. His sophomore film, “Pigeons are Dying, when the City is on Fire” (2023), a poetic tale of urban love and cosmic fire, premiered at the Sarajevo Film Festival, screened at the International Competition of Clermont Ferrand ISFF and Palm Springs ShortFest, and was qualified for the Academy Awards (Grand Prix Festival Curta Cinema). He currently develops his debut feature “Sunbruise” (Midpoint Feature Launch 2024). In recent years, he has worked in the Program and Industry departments of several film festivals; he continues as program director at Leiden Shorts, shorts preselector at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, industry producer at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, and film programmer at Anafi International Film Festival.