Sawt Falasteen - Greece's 'wizard of weird' Yorgos Lanthimos wins Venice top prize

Born in Athens in May 1973, Lanthimos spearheaded a crop of young Greek filmmakers specialising in a so-called "weird wave" launched around the time of Greece's economic crisis.

He cut his teeth on television adverts and dance videos before bursting onto the international scene in 2009 with "Dogtooth", a film about the claustrophobic life of two sisters and a brother shut away in a villa by their dysfunctional parents.

"We just did whatever the hell came into our heads," Lanthimos said of his early years as a director, recalling borrowing equipment and props and shooting in friends' homes.

Only his second solo directorial effort, "Dogtooth" won the Un Certain Regard section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

His equally surreal "Alps", the story of an underground organisation that helps mourners by impersonating the deceased, won best screenplay in Venice in 2011.

By that point, Lanthimos had had enough of trying to make a career in crisis-hit Greece.

Tired by the mounting financial constraints -- "Dogtooth" nearly failed to secure a home release before its success at Cannes -- he soon decamped for Britain in late 2011 with his actress spouse Ariane Labed.

"I made three films in Greece under very difficult circumstances, so I think I've served my time," he told The Guardian at the time, who called him the "laughing mortician" of contemporary Greek culture.

"But I don't see it as jumping ship. It's not abandonment. One day I'll go back," he added.

- Awards success -

It took him a while to find his next project but when he did, the change in scope was palpable.

In 2015, Lanthimos released "The Lobster", a surreal black comedy about modern love, this time with the backing of Irish funds and bankable Hollywood names including Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz, that bagged him the third-place jury prize in Cannes.

"The Lobster" became an arthouse hit and earned an Oscar nomination for best foreign language film in 2017 -- Greece's first such accolade in over 30 years.

He followed it with another strange concoction, "The Killing of a Sacred Deer", an icy thriller starring Nicole Kidman, who admitted she wouldn't be showing it to her kids.

It divided critics but won best screenplay at Cannes.

Then came his biggest hit to date, "The Favourite", a period drama starring Weisz and Emma Stone about the rule of Queen Anne in 17th-century Britain.

It won the runner-up Grand Jury prize and best actress for Olivia Colman when it premiered in Venice in 2018, before going on to a vast haul of awards at the BAFTAs and Golden Globes, and an Oscar for Colman.

Though there were high expectations for what he would produce next, he exceeded them with "Poor Things" when it debuted in Venice last week.

Lauded as an "instant classic" by critics, it looks set for another strong run through the coming awards season after winning the top prize in Venice.

M.AbuKhalil--SF-PST