Searching for Thule (in development)

Talents Sarajevo Pack & Pitch Award

In Co-production with Hellenic Broadcasting Company – ERT

In her quest to solve the riddle of Europe, a passionate scholar reconstructs the journey of the ancient Greek sailor
Pytheas from Marseille to the mysterious country of Thule.

Writers: Yannis Karpouzis, Alexander Strecker
Producer: Tasos Koronakis
Production Company: Laika Productions / Empty Square
Approximate Budget: €500,000

Synopsis
Around 300 BCE, the remarkable adventurer Pytheas set out from the Greek colony of Marseille to explore the frozen, fabled, and terrifying lands of northern Europe. Pytheas’s voyage, beginning on the Mediterranean Sea and reaching towards Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, the Shetland Islands, and the Faroe Islands, is retraced through a collection of film archives, archaeological surveys, and fragments from ancient literature. Ultimately, the journey reaches the mythical land of Thule, at the end of the earth, on the black coasts of Iceland and the melting glaciers of Greenland and the North Pole. As we retrace this journey in the present through images of everyday life, landscapes, history, myths, and monuments, the complex patchwork called Europe unfolds before us. Threading this patchwork together is the desire for knowledge, exploration, and cultural exchange. This essay film delves into the search for European identity, the continent’s ancient heritage, and the meeting of the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean.