‘Milky Way’ Trailer: Short Film Palme d’Or-Winning Filmmaker Vasilis Kekatos Tackles Teen Pregnancy with Dark Humor

Exclusive: "The Distance Between Us and the Sky" filmmaker is turning to TV with a new limited series about a perennial topic with plenty of imaginative flourishes.

After winning both the Palme d’Or and the Queer Palm for best short film with his 2019 gem “The Distance Between Us and the Sky,” Greek filmmaker Vasilis Kekatos is bringing his latest project to the small screen. And for free! Kekatos’ “Milky Way” is the latest original series to hit free premium streamer The Network, with eight episodes tackling a perennial story with some real flair, dark humor, and a little bit of, well, out-there imagery.

Per its official synopsis, the series “follows 17-year old Maria, whose dreams of becoming a dancer collide with the reality of an unwanted pregnancy. While her parents expect her to settle down in their small mountain town to become a mother, the influence of a new friend from Athens leads her on a transformative journey that sees her challenging the world she grew up in.”

The Network was created by filmmaker/entrepreneur Aram Rappaport, founder of the creative agency The Boathouse, and is available on all devices across Apple, Android, Roku, Amazon Fire, X1, Xumo, and Web. Built on the principle of “Always Original, Always Free” The Network focuses on exclusive, original films and TV that counter-program Big Streaming.

Each month, the streamer releases one new original title to join its curated library of 1,500+ hours of programming. Last month’s offering was “The Artist,” a fantastical Gilded Age murder mystery starring award-winners Mandy Patinkin, Janet McTeer, Danny Huston, Hank Azaria, Patti LuPone, Zachary Quinto, Clark Gregg, Katharine McPhee, and Ever Anderson.

“‘Milky Way’ represents everything The Network stands for — championing bold, visionary filmmakers like Vasilis Kekatos, unapologetically. We couldn’t be more excited to share this beautiful series with our audience,” Rappaport said of The Network’s latest original series.

“Milky Way” will premiere on Tuesday, May 5 and will release new episodes every Tuesday.

Check out the official trailer for “Milky Way,” an IndieWire exclusive, below.