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We have all heard about Greek tragedies, the most profound and powerful form of storytelling. There are many examples of famous Greek tragedies that many could probably name off the top of their head. However, all the Greek stories we know were written centuries before we were born. Now, Christopher Papakaliatis has gifted the world with a modern version of Greek tragedy in ‘Maestro in Blue’. From Greece, to Netflix, to the world The Greek series created by Christopher Papakaliatis is the first ever Greek show to be picked up by a major streaming network to be launched worldwide. The show was initially created for Greek broadcast only, until Netflix decided to acquire it and make it a Netflix Original show. The platform’s investment in the international show not only reached the desired outcome but surpassed it, becoming one of the top 10 shows in multiple countries. After the clear success of season one,...

Since releasing on Netflix, ‘Maestro in Blue,’ the first Greek series, had made a quick ascent to the top ten when it was released. Creator Christopher Papakaliatis is capable of doing it all as he writes, directs, and stars in the critically acclaimed show. Papakaliatis is known for his work in Greece as an actor, writer, and director; this is his first project as a showrunner. Papakaliatis plays Orestis, a music teacher from Athens who comes to a small island to set up a music festival. During his time on the island, he learns about small-town politics and the ways society moves. While on the island, Orestis finds himself involved in an extreme love story. Things to do: Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here. Limited Time Offer – Free Subscription to The Hollywood Insider Click here to read more on The Hollywood Insider’s vision, values...

Now that the second season has dropped, I think it’s time to get familiar with the interesting characters of the Greek drama series Maestro in Blue. Well, I don’t know if ‘interesting’ is the right word to describe these characters in the series, maybe ‘shady’ would fit better. Paxos, the small town where they live, is quite beautiful, but their lives are far from it. Anyway, enough of my blabbering; let’s see what you think of the characters after getting to know them through this cast and character guide of Maestro in Blue, streaming on Netflix.

Orestis

Orestis, played by Christopher Papakaliatis, is the “maestro” of the series, around whom the story revolves. Orestis is our main protagonist. He came to the island of Paxos from Athens to organize a music festival since he was a music teacher. Little did Orestis know that he would fall in love,...

Netflix’s Maestro in Blue Season 2: Everything We Know So Far ( Photo Credit – IMDb )

When Maestro in Blue premiered on Netflix in March 2023, it became one of the most-watched non-English-language shows on the platform, reaching the top 10 list in over 50 countries. Ever since, viewers have been massively curious about the show. They can not wait to see how things eventually turn out for Orestis and Klelia.

Well, the wait is almost over. Netflix renewed the show for a second season in March 2024, and it is arriving on the streaming platform soon. If you are excited about the series, here is everything you need to know about Maestro in Blue Season 2.

Maestro in Blue Season 2 Release Date

Maestro In Blue will be released on Netflix on Thursday, May 16th, 2024. Unlike the first season, which initially debuted in Greece on Mega TV and was later picked up by Netflix for international distribution,...

Maestro In Blue, the Greek drama series created by and starring Christopher Papakaliatis, is returning for a second season.

Netflix and Greek broadcaster Mega TV will launch the second season of the show on May 16.

The renewal comes a year after the series debuted on the streaming service, marking Netflix’s first worldwide pick up of a Greek series. The show reached the global top 10 for non-English series in 18 countries after its March 2023 debut.

The series follows a musician named Orestis, played by Papakaliatis, who travels to the scenic Greek island of Paxos during the Covid-19 pandemic in order to set up a music festival from scratch. He also finds love and himself embroiled in other people’s problems.

The first season featured nine episodes and the second season will feature six episodes. This will then be followed by a third and final season, which will air on Netflix and Mega later in the fall.

If you wanted to gauge how far the growing Greek TV industry has come in just a few short years, you’d have to look no further than last month in Lille, France, where Series Mania offered a splashy showcase for the Mediterranean nation’s sudden rise.

The prestigious French fest opened with Amazon Prime Video’s “Greek Salad,” director Cédric Klapisch’s follow-up to his beloved “Spanish Apartment” trilogy that chose Athens as the setting for its portrait of contemporary Europe at a crossroads. Meanwhile, a Greek series bowed in the festival’s international competition for the first time: Vasilis Kekatos’ “Milky Way.”

Directed by the short film Palme d’Or winner and inviting comparisons to “Euphoria” from festivalgoers, the envelope-pushing teen drama (pictured) is part of a bold new wave of Greek storytelling that reflects an industry striving to reach new heights. “We have amazing talents in Greece.

Continuing its global territorial expansion, Netflix picked up and is now streaming Greek TV series “Maestro in Blue,” its first-ever exclusive worldwide distribution deal for a Greek scripted series.

Created for Greek broadcaster Mega TV by multihyphenate Christoforos Papakaliatis, “Maestro” was launched on the platform internationally on March 17 and this week hit the global top 10 of the most-watched shows on Netflix.

“Maestro” debuted on Greek linear TV last October. Season 1, consisting of nine episodes, premiered on Netflix in Greece and Cyprus in December before expanding to audiences around the world.

On Monday, Netflix hosted a screening of the series that was attended by California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, the Consul General of Greece in Los Angeles Ioannis Stamatekos, and Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos.

Papakaliatis writes, directs and stars in “Maestro,” a drama of passion and deception that follows a musician named Orestis, played by Papakaliatis, who travels to the scenic...

Greek prime minister attends festival to highlight incentives for international projects.

Costa Rican director Valentina Maurel’s I Have Electric Dreams has won the €10,000 Golden Alexander-Theo Angelopoulos prize for best film at Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) which took place from November 3-13.

The film’s lead actor Reinaldo Amien Gutierrez also won the best actor award at the festival.

The French, Belgian and Costa Rican co-production, which premiered in Locarno, follows a young girl’s coming of age and her relationship with her estranged father. World sales are handled by Greece’s Heretic.

The international competition jury...

The Thessaloniki Film Festival launched its inaugural Agora Series strand on Nov. 10 with a host of international TV executives and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in attendance, highlighting the determination of both the government and the local industry to jump-start the domestic TV sector.

Addressing a full house at the historic Olympion Cinema, where he outlined government efforts to support the Greek screen industries through measures like its 40 cash rebate and a 30 tax relief program, Mitsotakis announced: “We hope that this is just a beginning.”

Buoyed by the cashback scheme, the sun-splashed Mediterranean nation hosted 20 international TV productions last year, according to the prime minister, including the Apple TV Plus spy thriller “Tehran.”

Local production on prestige drama series is ramping up — and foreign buyers are taking notice. Earlier this week, Netflix announced that it had acquired worldwide rights to the drama series “Maestro” (pictured), directed by and starring Christoforos Papakaliatis,...

When “Silent Road” (pictured above), a Greek abduction thriller written by Melina Tsampani and Petros Kalkovalis, dropped its first episode on Mediaset Italia’s flagship Canale 5 station this summer, 1.4 million viewers tuned in, making it the second-highest rated show in its timeslot.

The series, which follows an affluent Athenian family after a school bus carrying their children is held hostage, set a new benchmark for the Greek television industry, which even in the era of globe-trotting drama has been slow to cross borders. Directed by Vardis Marinakis and produced by Athens-based Filmiki for Greek broadcaster Mega TV, “Silent Road” is being sold internationally by Beta Film.

Tsampani and Kalkovalis acknowledge that the industry is still “taking baby steps.” “Greek fiction has to find its place in a vast global market and to do so we have to invest in premium series,” the duo tells Variety.

Yet all signs suggest a shift is underway.

India’s romance drama “Ok Jaanu” lead the indie newcomers on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, grossing $244,000 from 121 locations in its first weekend at the box office. Directed by Shaad Ali, the film stars Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead roles of a young couple living together in Mumbai while trying to pursue their lifelong dreams. Other independent films that opened this weekend include Greece’s “Worlds Apart” and France’s “Reset.” Also Read: Jackie Chan's 'Railroad Tigers' Earns $127,600 at Indie Box Office “Worlds Apart” stars J.K. Simmons, Christoforos Papakaliatis and Andrea Osvart and grossed $14,000 in its first weekend.

Greece’s political and socio-economic woes form the backdrop of writer/director Christopher Papakaliatis’ drama depicting three interwoven love stories between Greek and foreign characters. Benefiting greatly from the presence of Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons in a key role, Worlds Apart doesn’t manage to transcend the forced and familiar-feeling aspects of its multipart narrative, but it does offer an evocative portrait of its troubled milieu, and one of its segments, at least, has genuine emotional resonance.

All three stories are set in an Athens beset by widespread poverty and violent tensions between the native and immigrant populations. The first and most formulaic story...

Alexis Alexiou’s neo-noir drama triumphed at an event dominated by the refugee crisis, with honorary award recipient Vanesa Redgrave speaking out against border policies.Scroll down for full list of winners

Alexis Alexiou’s sophomore directorial outing Wednesday 04.45 [pictured] swept the Hellenic Film Academy (Helfiac) Awards (aka the ‘Iris Awards’) on Monday evening (March 28) winning nine awards out of the 13 categories in which it was nominated, including best film and director.

The film, which played in the Tribeca, Karlovy Vary and Jeonju festivals, was also awarded best editing, music, cinematography, production design, sound, special effects and actor for Stelios Mainas.

The Greek, German, Israeli co-production backed by Eurimages, is a neo-noir style drama where a club owner, faced with the 2010 recession and unable to repay a loan secured from a thug, tries to avoid bankruptcy.

Handled locally by distribution powerhouse Feelgood Entertainment and in Germany by the Neue Visionen Filmverleih, and sold internationally...

Exclusive: The sales agent has come on board to handle international rights excluding Greece to the romantic drama starring J.K Simmons.

Worlds Apart will get is market premiere in Berlin and comprises three romantic tales, each between a foreigner and a local, that weave together against the backdrop of the financial crisis ravaging southern Europe.

Writer-director Christopher Papakaliatis also stars alongside Simmons and Andrea Osvárt.

Kostas Sousoulas, Papakaliatis, Dorothea Paschalidou, and Chris Papavasiliou produce. Gersh represents Us rights.

The 13 Films slate includes The Archbishop And The Antichrist starring Forrest Whittaker and Vince Vaughn to be directed by Roland Joffé, and thriller A Patch Of Fog starring Stephen Graham and Conleth Hill that premiered in Toronto.

The company is also selling supernatural thriller Voice From The Stone starring Emilia Clarke and Marton Csokas in post, action title Extortion with Eion Bailey, Barkhad Abdi and Danny Glover, and the comedy Chronically Metropolitan starring Chris Noth, Mary-Louise Parker, [link...