“Stories of a Lie” by Olia Verroipoulou at the 28th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival – Greek Premiere for the Film

A personal investigation into “medical lies” and the culture of silence surrounding diagnosis. Nominated for the IDFA Award for Best First Feature-Length Film & the FIPRESCI Award

Following its world premiere at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), Stories of a Lie, the debut feature documentary by Olia Verroipoulou, will be presented in the Film Forward Competition section of the 28th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, taking place from 5 to 15 March.

Stories of a Lie is one of the nine Greek films competing for awards across the festival’s three competition sections, selected among a total of 57 Greek documentaries featured in this year’s program. Its participation follows the film’s international recognition, including its selection in IDFA’s Luminous program, where it stood out as the only Greek production to premiere in the festival’s main program in recent years.

Stories of a Lie is a personal and inventive exploration of the practice of withholding medical diagnoses-such as cancer—from patients by doctors and family members. Through a hybrid and creative cinematic approach, Verroipoulou, in her first feature-length directorial work, raises a profound philosophical and ethical dilemma without easy answers: does silence protect-or ultimately harm-the people we love?

With curiosity, humor, and sensitivity, the filmmaker dives into this culture of silence, turning her gaze toward doctors within her own family circle-among them her father-while confronting deeply rooted myths, fears, and familial habits.

Stories of a Lie is produced by Marni Films (Greece) and co-produced by Perspective Films (France), in collaboration with Tamarisk, Filaos Productions, and Yellowgroove. The film is supported by the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center, ERT, and the French National Centre for Cinema (CNC).

Stories of a Lie

Synopsis

During a trip to Greece, I learn that a childhood friend of mine is seriously ill. Her doctors and family have chosen to hide the diagnosis from her, and I am asked to keep the secret as well. Confused and unsettled, I begin to remember…

Having grown up surrounded by doctors, I realize that I had once been part of this very practice, and that it has affected people close to me. I decide to speak with my father, who is also a doctor, and begin a deeply personal investigation in an attempt to understand the reasoning behind these medical lies—both today and in the past.

Credits

Directed & Written by: Olia Verroipoulou
Cinematography: Pierre Warolin
Sound: Jonathan Arnoult
Editing: Christos Giannakopoulos, Jonathan Arnoult
Sound Design: Christos Giannakopoulos
Color Grading: Grigoris Arvanitis
Mixing: Kostas Varymbopiotis

Producers: Mina Dreki – Marni Films & Gaelle Jones – Perspective Films

Co-produced by: Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center (EKKOMED), ERT, CNC, Tamarisk, Filaos Productions & Yellowgroove

Biography – Filmography

Olia Verroipoulou was born in Athens in 1992. She lives and works between Athens and Paris, where she studied film at Paris VII–Diderot University and École des Gobelins.

In 2021, she directed her first short film, Sacralisons. In 2025, she completed the short fiction film The First Image as well as her debut feature-length documentary, Stories of a Lie, which had its world premiere at IDFA – the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.

Over the past decade, she has also been involved in film programming and festival organization, collaborating with institutions and festivals such as Les Écrans Documentaires, Cinéma du Réel, Champs-Élysées Film Festival, Institut Français, the Greek Film Archive, and the Oxbelly Screenwriters Lab, among others.