FROM THE EDGE OF THE CITY

17-year-old Sasha (Stathis Papadopoulos) is the smoldering center of a gang of Pontian Greek kids who live precariously on the margins of Athens, hustling by night in Omonia Square. Having come with their families from Kazakhstan as refugees, they are shunned in their new homeland, even though they are ethnic Greeks. With drugs fueling their increasingly volatile existence, their lives and the ties that bind them eventually shatter as they collide with the city's harsh underside.

Violent and energetic in its headlong rush to the abyss, From The Edge of the City takes an unsparing look at the precarious lives of dispossessed street youth in Athens. Writer-director Constantinos Giannaris returns to his native city for a film that won't do much for the tourist trade but vividly lays bare a side of Athenian life few visitors will have encountered.

running time: 94 min.
In Greek and Kazakh with English subtitles.

"An insightful journey through burgeoning male sexuality."
David Bahr, TIMEOUT NEW YORK

"Pitched somewhere between TRAINSPOTTING and HATE, and with a pulsating hard-rock-tinged score by Akis Daoutis, the movie abounds in zip-pans, horizontal wipes, aggressively heightened sound and other technical trickery to suggest lives spiraling out of control. Gripping and intense!"
Philip Kemp, Variety

"A stunning film!"
CHICAGO HERALD TRIBUNE

"Brilliant! This film is classy especially the way it handles urban disorientation"
Amos Lassen, CINEMA PRIDE

"Bristles with energy and passion!"
Kevin Thomas, LOS ANGELES TIMES

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running time: 94 min.