Aristotelis Maragkos is a Greek writer and director whose work focuses on obsessive stories and dealing with the past. His films often experiment with form, genre and material processes, moving between found footage, animation, paper-based transformation and live action. His work has screened at festivals around the world, including Telluride, Locarno and Annecy. His debut feature, The Timekeepers of Eternity, premiered at Fantastic Fest in 2021. His sophomore film, Beachcomber, received the Silver Alexander – Best Director Award at the 66th Thessaloniki IFF in 2025.
PROJECT
Pocketful of Strawberries
In the greenhouse heat of a Greek strawberry farm, Sohel works beside other Bangladeshi men for wages that never arrive. He is haunted by the ghost of his brother, who died trying to reach Greece after believing Sohel’s lies about his life there. During a game of Kabaddi, Sohel follows a strange electrical buzz into the field and uncovers a buried marble statue of Aphrodite. The others see in her a way out. Sohel sees proof that their suffering can still become dignity. When Sofia, the farm’s owner, arrives with her son Panos, the statue becomes the centre of a brutal game of power. With the promise of a deal, she humiliates the men, forcing them to perform the masculinity they have been denied. Sohel’s anger boils over and he strikes her, causing the deal to collapse. A desperate act of revenge causes a car accident, turning Sofia into their prisoner. As revenge takes over, the greenhouse becomes a battlefield. Carrying the statue’s head into a frozen borderland, Sohel faces the truth he tried to bury.
