PANTALEON Films

Highway to Hellas

Release: 26.11.2015

Story

The Germans are coming! To snoop, pry and inspect once again, because the Greek are always under suspicion to lie, cheat and scam. And rightfully so! Jörg Geissner, an employee of the Munich based AVO-Bank arrives on the island of Paladiki, to check on the registered securities of a credit granted years ago by his bank. His suspicion: the registered securities – a hospital and a power generating plant – don’t really exist. But the Greeks aren’t stupid… they will make Geissner prove that the securities don’t exist! And so a completely overwhelmed Geissner embarks on an unexpected Odyssey all by himself, against the rest of the island. His constant companion being the shrewd German-Greek gigolo Panos, who will see to it that Geissner’s search for the power-plant will get him nowhere. In the meantime Paladiki’s Mayor Spyros will desperately try to conjure something up, which would maybe look like a power plant, at least at night and with the help of a few drink and then some more drinks. Losing the loan would be a catastrophe for the already destitute island and would mean certain bankruptcy. A frantic race ensues on the island of Paladiki, while a decrepit sheepfold is haphazardly turned into – what might hopefully look like – a power plant, while at the same time the fastidious auditor Geissner and the freedom-loving man-about-town (or better –island) Panos get to know each other a little better and somehow also begin to like each other…

Especially Geissner is changed by this trip. He meets the young but quirky widow Eleni and also gets to know Panos’ (out of wedlock) son Dimitri, who is helping his single Mom Maria to keep the last remaining Hotel on the island afloat. The more Geissner learns about people’s everyday lives on the island, the more he realizes what a crucial role he plays in all of this. The result of his trip will decide over the island’s future and Geissner has to ask himself who he feels responsible to, his employer – the bank, or the people of Paladiki….

Facts

Distributed by: Warner Bros.
Box office / ticket Sales: 84.534
Release date: 26.11.2015
Produced by: PANTALEON Films, Warner Bros. Film Productions Germany, ARRI Productions

Cast/Talents

Christoph Maria Herbst, Adam Bousdoukos, Akillas Karazisis, Giorgios Kotanidis, Christos Valavanidis

Crew

Directed by: Aron Lehmann
Director of Photography: Nikolaus Summerer
Screenplay: Arnd Schimkat, Moses Wolff und Aron Lehmann