by Dov Kornits
“I’m thrilled for all my team,” said writer/director Kosta Nikas, who impressed with his feature film Sacred Heart (2016), starring Kipan Rothbury and David Field. “Great vindication for all the hard work and persistence as it took longer than usual to produce. But well worth it as the film has an important message that is very relevant and topical in my opinion.”
Utopia is the story of a man returning to his country after decades abroad only to find a heartless society where citizens abusively police each other through mobile technology and where there is more freedom inside prison than outside it. Desperate, but unable to escape, the act of one brave woman gives him his freedom.
“I wanted to make a film for this zeitgeist,” said Sydney based Nikas, who was prompted to make the film after the protests over the lock out laws and the predatory revenue raising practices of local government. “(I wanted to) respond to the mobile phone obsession and technological invasion which is often misused at the expense of our privacy, freedom, dignity and environment. This is not a parochial issue but a universal one that needs to be taken seriously.”
The Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, dubbed the ‘new Sundance’, was held October 16th to 20th, 2019 in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Utopia is screening at the 2020 Flickerfest International Film Festival.
