Boy Eating the Bird's Food

The draconian austerity measures recently imposed in Greece as the country teeters on the verge of national insolvency give Boy Eating the Bird’s Food an exceptional relevance. Nevertheless, this update of Knut Hamsun's novel Hunger (1890) is more existential drama than political statement - even with a countertenor (the current euphemism for eunuch) in the lead role and hunger as its omnipresent theme.
Alienated from his friends and family, Yorgos lives in a bare flat in Athens. He scours litter bins, steals the odd crumb from his neighbours and eats the seeds intended for his only companion, a canary that sings its heart out regardless. His only contact with the outside world is his stalking of an attractive hotel receptionist. When he is evicted from his flat, he is left with nothing at all.
Boy Eating the Bird’s Food is raw, realistic and oppressive in tone, unlike the stylised absurdism of recent Greek Weird Wave cinema. This debut, reminiscent of Dostoyevsky and Camus, is already a proven festival hit.