Plato's Academy

Plato's Academy (Akadimia Platonos) is a 2009 Greek-German comedy-drama directed by Filippos Tsitos, who co-wrote the screenplay with Alexis Kardaras. Produced by Thanassis Karathanos with music by Nikos Kypourgos, the film was shot as a ZDF and ARTE co-production. Antonis Kafetzopoulos stars alongside Anastas Kozdine, Titika Saringouli, Giorgos Souxes, Kostas Koronaios, Panayiotis Stamatakis and Maria Zorba.

The story follows Stavros, a shopkeeper in a small Athens neighbourhood who has been abandoned by his wife and cares for his elderly mother. His uneventful routine is shattered when an Albanian stranger appears and claims that Stavros's mother is actually his own, forcing Stavros to question his identity. Premiering at the 2009 Locarno Film Festival, the film earned Kafetzopoulos a Silver Leopard for best actor and was among the 2010 Lux Prize finalists. Critical reactions were divided, with some praising its humanist look at multicultural society while others found it a weak comedy.