Τhe Greek summer, with its warm sunsets, azure seas, and picturesque islands, holds a unique place in the cinematic lexicon.  It has serves as a narrative canvas for many directors, Greek as well as international, from the lush colors of Hydra in 1957 Sophia Loren vehicle “Boy on a Dolphin” –the first Hollywood film shot in Greece to contemporary Greek kitchen-sink drama “Spirtokouto” set to the unforgiving Athens heat and the confinement of apartments. We take a look – and a virtual trip - though ten Greek films of the last decades and their varied portrayal of the Greek summer in the city and in the countryside, in all its idyllic and harsh glory.

Οι Απέναντι (A Foolish Love,1981) — Athens

On a hot Athenian July, a reclusive Astronomy student spots a disillusioned woman with his telescope, and his dull existence takes on a new meaning. Director Giorgos Panousopoulos crafts a haunting and poetic urban fable that explores loneliness, desire, and the chasm between fantasy and connection. Aris Retsos delivers a compelling performance as Harís—pale, withdrawn, and emotionally detached—while Betty Livanou imbues Stella with a quietly potent sensuality and mystery.
Τhe film turns Athens into a character itself—its heat, its isolation, and its fragments of intimacy captured in glimmers between balconies and open windows. Critically, Οι Απέναντι was a commercial success for its time, attracting over 116,000 viewers and ranking 12th among 46 Greek films of the year.

Το δέντρο που πληγώναμε (The Tree we Hurt,1986) — Chios

This film by Dimos Avdeliodis transports viewers to a summer in the 1960s on the island of Chios, specifically in its mastic villages, showing the story of young boys and very good friends who, due to an unfortunate incident, come into conflict just before school closes for the summer holidays. The film beautifully portrays childhood rebelliousness and τηε joy of adventure, the unavoidable loss of innocence, as well as the Greek countryside of 60s. It's a deeply personal work that remains emotionally resonant to this day.

Ας περιμένουν οι γυναίκες (Let the women wait, 1998)— Thassos

This film is considered the culmination of director Stavros Tsiolis' "women trilogy". Set during an August road trip to the northern island of Thassos, the film is about three brothers-in-law that embark on a journey to find their wives, encountering various situations along the way. The film explores the limits of male friendship, skillfully blending humor with sociopolitical commentary to create a bittersweet snapshot of the Greek reality of the time. A testament to its enduring appeal the film's lines have become legendary and are still popular, almost three decades after its release.

Φτηνά Τσιγάρα (Cheap Smokes, 2000) — Athens

The empty streets of August in Athens provide the ideal setting for this romantic story, which was filmed in just 23 days in August 1999. Renos Haralambidis's personal film explores an Athenian summer where love triumphs even in loss, and daily life embraces adventure on bohemian sidewalks. Its urban romanticism and nocturnal, youthful aesthetic profoundly influenced modern Greek pop culture, earning it "all-time classic" status. The film is described as a jazz improvisation, featuring characters who fall in love, curse, philosophize, and find satisfaction in the smallest things, always while smoking cheap cigarettes. It was recently adapted into a successful musical at the Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera.

Δεκαπενταύγουστος (One Day in August, 2001) — Athens, Panagia Soumela

Konstantinos Giannaris crafts a multi-dimensional cinema of characters and intense emotions in this film, featuring reversals and transgressions. It delves into human relationships, social inequalities, and the alienation of urban life, portraying the trap of routine and the search for escape. The story centers on three couples/families who abandon Athens for their traditional summer holidays, leaving behind an empty apartment building. A 17-year-old burglar discovers an opportunity in the vacant premises, leading to three parallel stories of daily life and prayers for miracles. The film captures an untamed, anarchic, and quintessentially Greek summer, offering a metaphysical, post-Christian interpretation of human contradictions.

Τσίου (Tsiou, 2005) — Athens

Set in an empty Athens on August 15th, this film follows a young drug user, Tsiou, as he desperately tries to secure his next dose. The narrative explores themes of hope, addiction, need, fear, and frustration, portraying Tsiou as walking a tightrope with the constant threat of falling. Makis Papadimitratos, as the director, approaches this issue with depth and a human perspective that avoids condemning the protagonist. By blending sensitivity with cynicism, the film achieves a powerful portrayal, making it one of the most significant Greek films of the 2000s, Tsiou a black comedy that has been widely loved and is rewatched every summer.

Νήσος (The Island, 2009) — Sifnos

Taking viewers to Sifnos, this film by Christos Dimas begins with a wealthy notable whose death throws the island into turmoil. He leaves his fortune to the island's four leaders—the mayor, policeman, priest, and teacher—on the condition that all their well-kept secrets are brought to light. The characters, repressed by the rules of their closed society, find themselves on the brink of nervous breakdowns, clashing over desires and interests. The film uses ethnographic elements rooted in memories of a past era, underscored by the hypocrisy prevalent in modern Greece. It was one of the most successful Greek comedies of recent years, even inspiring a sequel.

Suntan (2016) — Antiparos

Suntan (2016), directed by Argyris Papadimitropoulos, is a compelling character study that uses the sun-drenched Greek island of Antiparos as both paradise and trap. The film follows Kostis (Makis Papadimitriou), a lonely, middle-aged doctor whose life unravels when he becomes infatuated with Anna, a hedonistic young tourist. What initially feels like a liberating summer fling gradually exposes his desperation, delusion, and inability to connect with the youthful vitality he envies. Papadimitropoulos contrasts the seductive beauty of the island with the grotesque unraveling of its protagonist, turning a coming-of-age premise on its head to create a captivating psychological thriller. Makis Papadimitriou delivers a deeply unsettling performance, embodying Kostis with a mix of vulnerability, awkwardness, and creeping menace that makes his descent into obsession both believable and disturbing.

Winona (2019) — Andros

This film presents a distinctive aesthetic and a vivid portrait of the Greek summer, rich in colors. On a secluded beach in Andros, four young women spend a day together, engaging in dialogues that invite reflection through unanswered rhetorical and existential questions. The film delves into themes of memory, loss, and the management of trauma, imbued with melancholy and nostalgia. Shot on 16mm film by Alexandros Voulgaris, Winona captures the sensuality emanating from light, water, and young flesh, inviting viewers to uncover the secrets hidden beneath seemingly carefree games. Sofia Kokkali delivers a notable performance, embodying her role with theatrical depth.

Κιούκα (Kyuka: Before Summer's End, 2024) — Poros

For our last entry we have a movie that was released just last year: In his assured feature debut, director Kostis Charamountanis crafts an evocative, sun-drenched fable of family, memory, and the ache of becoming who we were always meant to be. Against the idyllic backdrop of Poros, a single father and his adult twin children set sail for summer holidays—only to unintentionally confront their absent mother, now reappearing after decades. What begins as a tender, nostalgia-laced journey blooms into a bittersweet odyssey of identity, sibling bonds, and hesitant forgiveness. The result is a film both grounded and surreal—an emotionally resonant collage that lingers like the afterglow of a summer sunset.

*Featured image: from the film Κιούκα

I.L.

The post Greek Summer in Film: A Curated Collection appeared first on Greek News Agenda.

Award-winning director, producer, and animator Konstantinos P. Kakarountas is the founder of Dahouse Studio, a company specializing in moving image with a focus on new technologies. He is also the president of ASIFA Hellas and speaks enthusiastically about the future of Hellenic animation production, the challenges it faces, and the opportunities that have now emerged for professionals in the industry.

He studied film and animation in France at the Fine Arts Schools of Angoulême and Poitiers, respectively, holding a postgraduate degree in this field. He has collaborated with numerous production companies both in Greece and abroad. In addition, he has worked as a VFX Supervisor on a wide range of film projects and has created numerous commercials for well-known brands.

He has directed short films that have been awarded at many international festivals. He is currently producing new documentary and animated short films. He is a creative thinker who loves combining art with technology. He is a member of the European Film Academy, the Greek Directors Guild, and PACT – the Media Producers Association of Greece.

You are the president of ASIFA Hellas, the Hellenic Animation Association, which aims to represent professional and artists in the disciplines of animation, motion graphics and visual effects. Tell as a few things about the scope of ASIFA Hellas.

ASIFA Hellas is the Greek branch of ASIFA (the International Animated Film Association), which was founded in 1960. The Hellenic Animation Association was essentially established in 2015 but began to become significantly more active from 2023 onward.

Our goal is extroversion and the promotion of collaborations and co-productions, to improve the Greek animation sector. We worked hard and tried to persuade the relevant institutions, and this extroversion was initially achieved through Greece's presence with a national booth at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, specifically at MIFA, the festival’s market. There, we showcase Greek animation projects that are at various stages of production.

We are independent producers and creators, but I believe that Greek animation has shown significant progress over the past decade. Most creators produce short films, but gradually they are beginning to develop feature-length films and animated series. There are series and films from our members that have been screened abroad, and we are proud, as ASIFA Hellas, to contribute to the strengthening of the international presence of Greek animation.

This is why we organize the “STRATOS” Hellenic Animation Awards every year, dedicated to the great Greek director and animator Stratos Stasinos. It is our pleasure to witness the ever-increasing participation of young creators submitting their films to our annual awards. Noteworthy is the abundance of works, as well as the quality of student films that have been submitted to our awards in recent years. This gives us even more motivation to do things for our community.

Another important initiative of ours is the celebration of International Animation Day. Although this day is celebrated on October 28th, due to our national holiday, our event takes place 2–3 days later. Last year, we collaborated with the University of West Attica and jointly organized a conference that brought students together with professionals from the animation production field in advertising, television, and cinema. We shared experiences with young professionals and screened short films from around the world.

This year, as we celebrate 80 years of Greek animation (1945–2025), we have prepared a retrospective tribute to the evolution of Greek animation from 1945 to the present. This will also be screened during our networking event at the Annecy Festival Market, and of course, we are organizing more events throughout the year that will be announced soon.

What is that personally drew you to animation? Which continues to be your driving force?

I believe that from a young age I was drawn to moving images. It was sometime in the late ’80s to early ’90s when magazines like Animation Magazine, Comics Scene, Fangoria, Cinefex, and American Cinematographer fell into my hands. That’s how it all started, as I already had an inclination toward the fine arts.

Cinema, comics, animation, and visual effects were always at the centre of my interests and shaped my teenage years. Greece at the time certainly didn’t produce such types of work, but there were many noteworthy creators. Inevitably, I would see commercials on television that, from time to time, featured small but well-crafted productions by significant artists in the field.

Later, I studied the art of cinema and animation in France. When I returned to Greece in the early 2000s, I began working in television and film productions.

My motivation, clearly, is the pursuit of artistic exploration. Seeking out the story, the image, and the movement creates a kind of alertness within you. I work constantly and tirelessly, trying to speak to the viewer and find redemption as an artist. The search never stops, as I must always observe and evolve—whether that involves art or technology. That’s the world of animation.

How things currently stand as far as Greek animation is concerned? How does it relate to contemporary global trends?

We are on an upward trajectory. Greece is beginning to make its presence felt, and this is gradually becoming evident. Our goal is to establish co-productions with other countries. There are many creators working in 2D and 3D animation, but we also have talented artists in stop motion. In Greece, creators produce, or co-produce works supported by the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center S.A. – Creative Greece or the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation – ERT. There are also cases where several producers create content for COSMOTE TV or for international clients.

Our aim is to export high-quality Greek animation and to promote Greek productions that will stand out. We, as producers, can create new job opportunities for young people who want to engage with the art of animation or visual effects and shape a new wave of animation productions being developed in Greece.

There are many trends emerging in the global market—from preschool, children, and adult animation to family animation. All artistic techniques are certainly present. We are not lacking in any area, as many large productions involve Greeks working either abroad or within the country.

 “Greek culture is rich and multidimensional, and this is reflected in the creation of animation films”. Could you elaborate on that?

We have something very important to export — the legacy we have inherited from our ancestors — which gives us many opportunities to create new stories. I believe it is our duty to produce films or series based on themes from our ancient history.

There is a strong thirst abroad for stories from Ancient Greece, which is evident when we consider that France has produced two projects in the past two years inspired by our rich mythology. Creating a strong brand name in animation, just like our country already has through its rich culture, is entirely possible. I am aware of productions currently in development that showcase our culture. All that remains is for us to see them come to life soon.

Which are the main challenges that Greek animation faces nowadays?

The market and extroversion are the problems, as well as the financial tools we lack to further support our productions. Ireland has targeted financial tools specifically for animation — we, on the other hand, do not. However, that doesn't mean we can't create similar ones. We just need to show the markets that we have the capabilities, and then appropriate financial tools will be developed with the goal of growing Greek animation.

We are trying to connect with major international festivals and foreign professionals to build a network. What matters to me is that the cultural sector realizes that animation is a very powerful asset in the Greek industry and in Greek entertainment. A strong momentum has already begun.

The Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center S.A. – Creative Greece is always by our side and listens to our needs. We need to have the right financial tools and the appropriate budgets to attract suitable co-producers. I believe we can achieve this if we put it on the agenda.

Which do you consider are the prospects ahead?

Many prospects are based on evolution. However, animation is above all about teamwork. I want creators to come closer to us and learn how to present their projects, because that is also very important. It will help them understand how the market works internationally.

Right now, we are living through a period of geopolitical turmoil, but what I tell young people is not to be afraid. I am an optimistic person. The future doesn’t just await us — we shape it. And if we want to shape it, we must work and move methodically.

New technologies increasingly point to a growing demand for new content. Greece must not be absent from the countries that are making positive strides in new technologies.

We are at the threshold of a new way of life with the help of technology. As human beings, we fear change, but then we adapt. Technology, as a tool, can support animation creators — it has been doing so for the past 50 years. Thanks to the internet, the job market has expanded to include creators working on production on the other side of the world. This will create new connections, and with the help of technology, production timelines will shorten.

Greece must catch the pulse and make a meaningful contribution to animation production. The development of animation can boost a country's economy in ways we can’t yet imagine. We only need to look at how Japan started producing animation in the 1960s and where Japan stands in 2025. What we need is methodical planning and strategy. The rest will follow in the future — if we have these two elements.

*Interview by Athina Rossoglou

The post Konstantinos P. Kakarountas: “Hellenic Animation needs methodical planning and strategy” appeared first on Greek News Agenda.

The Hellenic Film Commission (HFC) has published its summer 2025 edition of All About Filming in Greece, a  comprehensive guide on every aspect of shooting a film or a TV series in Greece. The guidebook aims to be used as a Greek industry guide, providing all the necessary information on the funding opportunities and incentives available, as well as with useful facts and figures about filming in Greece. All About Filming in Greece  presents the country’s advantages in terms of locations, climate, economic incentives (especially the Cash Rebate Greece program), professional staff and infrastructure and is a valuable tool for any international production considering Greece as a potential filming location.

The Hellenic Film Commission (HFC), a directorate of the newly established Hellenic Film & Audiovisual Center - Creative Greece (HFAC-Creative Greece)  serves as the principal point of contact for international film and audiovisual productions planning to shoot in the country. The HFC's core mission is to promote and develop Greece as a filming hub, offering information, advice, and guidance free of charge. Its main services include connecting foreign producers with the Greek industry, providing guidance on filming permits and financial incentives, locations, crew, and facilities, collaborating with ministries and public bodies, networking with local authorities, and organizing training days for talent development. As a member of the European Film Commissions Network (EUFCN), the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI), and Green Film, the HFC is integrated into international industry networks.

Greece is increasingly establishing itself as a premier filming destination in South-Eastern Europe, renowned for its diverse locations, favorable climate, competitive incentives, and skilled local professionals. The country offers filmmakers the "friendliest light in the world" and a Mediterranean climate conducive to shooting year-round. With a rich tapestry of landscapes, from unique islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas to ancient monuments, medieval towns, picturesque villages, forests, snow-capped mountains, lakes, hot springs, rivers, canyons, and even volcanoes with film-friendly craters, Greece provides a vast range of backdrops and architectural styles. The camera lens can capture more shades of blue here than perhaps anywhere else.

Greece has also been recognized internationally for its stunning filming locations. These awards highlight the diverse appeal of Greek locations, from islands to mainland areas.

Adding to its appeal, and a major draw for international productions is a compelling 40% cash rebate program. Administered by the Hellenic Film & Audiovisual Center – Creative Greece, the Cash Rebate Greece – Film and TV (CRGR-FTV) scheme supports feature films, documentaries, and television series filmed in Greece, covering principal photography, production development, and/or post-production stages. The rebate is calculated on eligible expenses incurred within Greek territory. Applications can be submitted by Greek partner companies, and the beneficiary can be the Greek producer, co-producer, production services provider, or their foreign partner. Eligible applicants include audiovisual production companies established or with a branch in Greece, foreign producers contracted with a Greek company, or Greek companies contracted with a foreign company for cross-border production. The rebate is paid after the completion of production and post-production in Greece, following an audit of costs.

Another significant initiative supported by the HFC is the Location Scouting Support Program. This program provides subsidies of up to 10,000 euro for foreign feature films (minimum 70 min), documentaries (minimum 70 min), and TV drama or documentary series interested in conducting preliminary location scouting in Greece. To be eligible, fiction feature films and TV drama series must have a minimum of fifteen shooting days in Greece, while documentaries and TV documentaries require at least seven shooting days. Additionally, the minimum estimated expenses to be incurred in Greece must be 50,000 euro if the project is produced in the country. Applications for this program are open year-round and can be submitted by Greek co-producers or Greek production companies contracted with the foreign production company.

The Hellenic Film & Audiovisual Center - Creative Greece provides other funding opportunities through programs like the Minority Coproduction Program, supporting projects originating outside Greece with Greek participation, and new programs through the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience "Greece 2.0". These new programs support various projects, including international co-productions and episodic work, with funding for the development of new technologies like 3D, VR, and AR.

Greece is also committed to promoting sustainable filming practices. The Hellenic Film Commission and Hellenic Film & Audiovisual Center have joined Green Film, a label certifying environmental sustainability for audiovisual productions. They assist producers in adopting environmentally responsible practices and have organized workshops to discuss green protocols and evaluation systems.

The All About Filming in Greece guidebook also features testimonials from productions that have filmed in Greece, highlighting positive experiences with locations, crews, and the support of local production companies. The Greek film industry is described as vibrant, with experienced and engaged crews. Local professionals, many of whom speak excellent English, are available for various roles including cinematography, art direction, costume design, makeup, production management, sound, visual effects, stunts, camera, and electrical departments. The guidebook provides an extensive guide to the Greek industry, listing numerous companies specializing all aspects of production.

Directors and producers who have filmed in Greece have praised the local crews’ commitment, creative passion, conscientious work ethic, and high standards, as well as the support of the Hellenic Hellenic Film & Audiovisual Center as well significant benefit of the cash rebate.

• Jon Gunn appreciated the economic incentive, energy, and commitment to developing the TV/film market in Greece for "House of David."
• Ruben Östlund found the crew experienced and engaged, locals friendly, and locations unique for "Triangle of Sadness."
• David Cronenberg felt Athens perfectly suited "Crimes of the Future."
• Molly Manning Walker had a great time in Crete for "How to Have Sex," praising the community and Greek crew. (p. 32)
• Michael Winterbottom highlighted the accommodation, pragmatism, and flexibility of people on Mykonos for "The Trip to Greece."
• Bettina Brokemper described shooting "Mediterráneo" in Amorgos as like shooting in paradise.
• Alexander Skarsgård noted that Greece, as the birthplace of Western drama, offers a canvas of unique resonance for "The Little Drummer Girl."
• The producers of "The Durrells" were impressed by the willingness, hard work, and skill of the Greek crew.
• Aashish Singh from "Tiger Zinda Hai" anticipated that Greece would benefit from word-of-mouth in India due to a successful shoot in Naxos.

A selection of notable films and series filmed in Greece is provided, including The Odyssey, Triangle of Sadness, Crimes of the Future, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, The Lost Daughter, Jack Ryan (Season 3), and The Durrells (Season 4).

Read the full 55-page guidebook All About Filming in Greece here : https://filmcommission.gr/publications/

I.L.

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How far can oppression and despair push the human psyche? Eva Nathena’s debut feature film is an adaptation of arguably the most iconic novel in Greek literature: The Murderess (1903) by Alexandros Papadiamantis (1851 – 1911), one of the country’s most influential writers. Murderess (2023), set in early-20^th century rural Greece, follows Hadoula, a mother, grandmother and midwife, as she tries to cope against an oppressive patriarchal society.

An impressive production with a stellar cast, starring Karyofyllia Karabeti in a tour-de-force performance as Hadoula, Murderess has won multiple awards and distinctions at international festivals, including six awards at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, the Media Choice Award for Filmmaker at the Shanghai International Film Festival and five awards and 11 nominations at the Hellenic Film Academy Awards, while it continues to be screened and distinguished at film festivals worldwide. Most importantly, Murderess has been chosen as Greece’s submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

Eva Nathena was born in Crete. She graduated from the Athens School of Fine Arts, where she studied painting under Chronis Botsoglou and set design under Yannis Ziakas. Already as a student, she was an assistant to prominent costume and set designer Dionysis Fotopoulos, gaining experience in film and theater by his side. In her long career in theater, she has designed sets and costumes for over 150 productions, from works by classical and contemporary playwrights to ancient Greek tragedies presented at Epidaurus and other ancient theaters. She has collaborated with important Greek directors including Giorgos Michaelides, Maya Lyberopoulou, Michail Marmarinos, Vaggelis Theodoropoulos, Nikos Mastorakis, Dimitris Kourtakis and Roula Pateraki.

In cinema, she has worked in 19 films, also with prominent directors, and has won the award for Best Costume Design at the Greek State Film Awards three times, for her work in Panayiotis Portokalakis’ Playing Parts (2003), Pantelis Voulgaris’ Brides (2004) and Costas Kapakas’ Uranya (2006). Her collaboration with legendary director Costa-Gavras in the production All Around is Light, presented at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, is a landmark in her career.

Nathena’s first work as a filmmaker was the short film Antigone (2022), before directing the Murderess the following year.

Greek News Agenda spoke* with Eva Nathena on her film, her perception of Papadiamantis’ messages and the experiences that have influenced her work.

What prompted you to adapt this particular work by Papadiamantis? Was it its literary value and its prominent place in Greek literature, or the sensitive subject it touches on?

 Its literary value and its prominent place had in fact always made me face it with awe and dread; what actually helped me overcome this fear was my need to understand, first, and then try to convey, what it is that Papadiamantis was writing about, as I personally felt it, and which truly spoke to my heart.

In the novel, the author focuses on the economic aspects of the position of women in traditional societies, with particular emphasis on the institution of dowry. You, however, choose to focus more on the issue of gender violence.

But violence is also the result of thinking of women as lesser; and it has been so for centuries. This berating began in antiquity; in the "Golden Age of Pericles", men voted for a law which stipulated that a man / husband directly acquires his wife’s property that was given as dowry. Let’s say that this law set a bad precedent that eventually led to this dark chapter in History.

Papadiamantis created a symbolic narrative, saying that society (personified in his heroine, Hadoula) was killing its children. In fact, he goes beyond that: he explains the reasons that lead to this act. He does not justify it, but he details the motivations behind it in psychiatric accuracy, describing what experts today define as "intergenerational trauma", and which is the cause of suffering in our times.

Why did you choose to reverse the order of the murders in the story?

Because, in literature, a climactic, irreparable act can be placed early in the narrative and still have the story unfold and reach closure, keeping the reader engaged. But in cinema this cannot be done – it would mean the end of the film. Every medium & every form of art has its own rules.

Would you say you empathize / sympathize more with the main character than does the narrator in the book?

I followed the author's lead in this; but, inevitably, through my own filter, created by my own experiences. You know, seeing clearly what this charitably prophetic writer told us 120 years ago is something that surpasses me, personally. And understanding the reasons that lead humans to extremes is like a life lesson.

The novel takes place in Skiathos, the author’s native island. You, however, chose the distinctive landscape of Mani for the filming of the movie. What influenced your choice?

Music and painting, which I studied, in that order, are the two arts that have driven my thinking and my work in any setting - not just this film. Started from the author’s formal language, I began recording the sonic landscapes that would evolve to visual landscapes. These sketches illustrated both inside & outside of me, this particular landscape of Mani & Crete.

At the first reading of the script, I told my co-workers: the formal language of Papadiamantis will be the camera in our film. So you can imagine how surprised I was -pleasantly surprised- when halfway through the rehearsals, I came upon Elytis' book The Magic of Papadiamantis and read the passage: "...as for Papadiamantis' formal language, only a camera lens, which had yet to be invented, could capture its power & richness"..!

In our film, the camera lens "translated" the writer’s language; as a visual artist, this was a risk I took, but also a deep satisfaction I gained when I saw how well it worked.

Your film has a very impressive cast of actors, with Karyofyllia Karabeti at its heart. To what extent would you say that this film is also "their film"?

It is our film, it belongs to all of us! I never claimed paternity or maternity – and anyone who does so in collaborative art forms, such as theater or cinema, is naive. Even the actors who appeared onscreen for just one minute, for that minute, carried the film on their shoulders, and I find that unique. Precious.  Karyofyllia outdid herself, but, believe me, everyone gave body and soul. I am grateful.

*Interview by Nefeli Mosaidi. Photos courtesy of Eva Nathena. Intro photo by Marilena Anastasiadou.

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The Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center – Creative Greece (HFAC- Creative Greece) announced that Greece has secured all the necessary resources from the National Public Investment Program and the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) in order to support investment plans concerning the “Cash Rebate Greece” (CRGR) program.

A platform for new applications under the CRGR Program of Law 5105/2024 will launch at the beginning of the new year, enabling the processing of investment plans submitted by May 10, 2024. This initiative aims to establish a stable and reliable investment tool for the film, audiovisual, and creative industries, ensuring transparency and legal certainty, with the goal of increasing annual resources by 2025. In addition, the required amount for the completion of the approvals and pre-approvals of the selective programs of periods B of 2023 and A of 2024, which have not been announced to date has been secured from the regular budget.

Showcasing the spectacular results of the Cash Rebate 40% and Tax Relief 30% incentives rendering Greece an ideal choice for the realization of audiovisual productions, the HFAC- Creative Greece announced that from September 2023 to September 2024, 70 investment projects have been submitted and another 46 investment projects have been completed and refunded. In total, since 2019, the cash rebate has refunded 211 investment projects with the amount of €130 million, almost €50 million of which in the past year.

Recognizing the significant contribution of the audiovisual sector to a country’s economy Greece introduced in the recent years an investment mechanism in order to support audiovisual and film productions. Through a “cash rebate” system providing investment incentives for audiovisual productions (film /TV/documentary/animation/digital games) for expenses incurred in Greece, the aim is to attract foreign filmmakers and audiovisual producers supporting also domestic production companies. At the same time, Film Offices in over 13 regions and 2 major municipalities in Greece have been being established to provide the necessary infrastructure for creators. This initiative aims to facilitate the smooth implementation of their business and artistic plans, enhancing the overall production environment in the country.

I.A.

Further Greek News Agenda articles concerning the CRGR program

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For the 9th consecutive year, "Beyond Borders" Kastellorizo International Documentary Festival ​​renews its rendez-vous (25/08–01/09/2024) with the cinephile audiences and creators from all over the world.

On the occasion of the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey, a century ago and the mass exclusion of people from both sides of the borders, the Festival turns its gaze beyond the obvious, questions and reflects on people and lives that were left behind. On personal stories that could not, or did not want to, fit or be assimilated by dominant ideologies and perceptions and were forced into a ceaseless search for acceptance and reconciliation.

Paying a spiritual tribute to these people, who may belong to the past, present or future, the 9th edition of Beyond Borders aspires through its film program -but also through book launches, art exhibitions, educational programs, lectures and musical performances- to emphasize those subtle nuances of solidarity and humanity and to bring back, through its artistic program, the issue of defending all human rights at every corner of the world.

9th Beyond Borders Festival

The Kastellorizo International Documentary Festival’s 9^th edition, running from August 25 to September 1, 2024, brings thrilling films and numerous premieres from around the world, enhanced awards to support filmmakers, collaborations, activities, and new programs.

Beyond Borders focuses on documentary films that deal with historical events and personalities as well as socio-political issues. As Irini Sarioglou, the festival’s artistic director, states: "On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, and with the world plagued by war conflicts, this year’s Beyond Borders theme focuses on the wounds of displacement, forced expatriation, and the bitter feeling of being twice a stranger. Knowledge, research, and the outcry of documentaries are more necessary than ever to awaken consciences and promote dialogue and reconciliation."

The festival is organized by the Hellenic History Foundation, in collaboration with Écrans des Mondes, and co-organized by the Region of South Aegean, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of National Defense, the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, the National Center of Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME), Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, the Greek Film Centre, the Embassy of Australia in Athens, the Embassy of Germany in Athens, the Embassy of Austria in Athens, and the Embassy of Spain in Athens.

This year, the festival received 763 documentary submissions from 95 countries, many of which have been showcased at major international film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, Amsterdam (IDFA), and Copenhagen (CPX DOX). The screening program includes 37 world, international, and Greek premieres. Organized by the Hellenic History Foundation (IDISME) in collaboration with Ecrans des Mondes (Paris), the festival is supported by renowned global entities such as ZDF, ARTE, BBC, RAI TV, Movies that Matter, IDF Prague, PHOENIX, FIPRESCI, and Ecrans des Mondes.

Beyond Borders will feature three distinct screening sections: the Main Competition, which includes 18 medium and feature-length documentaries; the μicro Competition, which includes 23 short documentaries; and the Panorama section, which will host daily thematic film tributes outside the competition.

Awards

The two competitive sections of the festival will present a total of 11 awards:

Golden Wreath of Megisti – GRAND PRIX: €10,000, sponsored by the Michael Marks Charitable Trust for the best film addressing historical events and personalities, current socio-political issues, and the promotion of human rights in any form and manner.

• Silver Wreath of Megisti: €5,000, sponsored by the Michael Marks Charitable Trust for the second-best film addressing historical events and personalities, current socio-political issues, and the promotion of human rights in any form and manner.

• Bronze Wreath of Megisti: €3,000, sponsored by ERT for the third best film addressing historical events and personalities, current socio-political issues, and the promotion of human rights in any form and manner.

• Best Greek Documentary Award: €2,000, co-sponsored by ERT and the Greek Film Center for the best documentary by a Greek director.

• Special Award of Mediterranean Friendship: €500, sponsored by EKOME for the best documentary promoting common values and peaceful dialogue among Mediterranean peoples.

• “Odysseus” Award: €2,000, initiated and supported by the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy, and sponsored by Lady Marina Marks and Alex Sakalis for the best documentary by a Greek director of the diaspora.

• #THISISEU Award: €1,000, sponsored by ERT, awarded by the Delegation of the European Commission in Greece for the documentary that best promotes contemporary European values.

• FIPRESCI Award: €1,000, sponsored by ERT for the best film selected by the International Federation of Film Critics.

In the μicro Competition Section, which includes 24 short documentaries, the awards are as follows:

• Golden Phoenix: €1,250, supported by Phoenix TV for the best short documentary by a debut director.

• Silver Phoenix: €1,000, supported by Phoenix TV for the second best short documentary by a debut director.

• Bronze Phoenix: €750, supported by Phoenix TV for the third best short documentary by a debut director.

Learn more about the films that will compete at the 9th Beyond Borders

Parallel Cultural Activities

In addition to film screenings and workshops, the festival organizes parallel cultural events, turning Kastellorizo into a global cultural meeting point.

Throughout the week, musical interludes by Aeolian Duet (Michalis Kontos and Rea Moraiti) will feature piano and cello sounds, offering romantic melodies from Chopin’s nocturnes to operatic arias and retro-inspired romantic pop songs.

Workshops for all ages will include: EKOME’s experiential film workshops “And yet… we move!” in collaboration with the French organization Films pour enfants. “Cine(summary) in the classroom”, shadow theater performances, traditional dances from all over Greece for children and fairy-tale musical journeys for children up to 10 years. There will also be a sculpture exhibition by artist Alexandros Zygouris.

Daily presentations of books with historical, literary, and cinematic content by journalist and author Pavlos Methenitis and academic Matteo Compagnolo include: Bruce Clark’s book “Twice a Stranger”; the reissue of Tatiana Stavrou’s book on the Greek Literary Society of Constantinople (1967) by IDISME; the historical album “At the Edge of the Aegean – Kastellorizo, 1890-1948” by N. Papanastasiou and N. Vogiatzis.

Read also via Greek News Agenda: Kastellorizo: Greece’s remotest island; 8th Beyond Borders International Documentary Festival

The post 9th Beyond Borders Kastellorizo International Documentary Festival appeared first on Greek News Agenda.

Nikos Papatakis (1918-2010) was an Ethiopian-born Greek filmmaker, renowned for his subversive and provocative works. Startling, subversive, and explosively controversial, the films of iconoclast Nico Papatakis have long been frustratingly hard to see, but they constitute one of the most radical and neglected bodies of work in all of European cinema. His 1967 film, The Sheperds of Calamity, is renowned director Yorgos Lanthimos' all-time favorite film,

Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on July 19, 1918, to a Greek father and an Ethiopean mother, Papatakis spent his early years between Ethiopia and Greece. At 17, he joined Haile Selassie’s army to resist the fascist Italian invasion of Ethiopia. After After the defeat by Benito Mussolini's forces, he was driven into exile, first in Libya and then Greece, before finally settling in Paris in 1939.

In Paris, Papatakis initially worked as an extra in films and eventually owned the famous nightclub La Rose Rouge, a hub for intellectuals and artists. Performers like Juliette Gréco made their debuts there, while luminaries such as André Breton, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Boris Vian were regular patrons. During this time, Papatakis befriended Jean Genet, who dedicated his poem "La Galère" to him, “Nico, the Greco-Ethiopian God.” Their friendship was tumultuous, marked by both collaboration and conflict.

In 1950, Papatakis funded and provided the location for Genet's film Un Chant d'Amour, which, due to its explicit content, was banned but later circulated as contraband. After a three-year marriage to the actor Anouk Aimée, with whom he had a daughter, Manuela, Papatakis left for New York, in disgust at France's colonial war in Algeria 1957. There, Papatakis got to know the actor John Cassavetes, and co-produce with him Shadows (1959), Cassavetes first film as director.

While in New York, Papatakis had an affair with the German-born model and singer Christa Päffgen, who took the professional name of Nico from her lover. Papatakis would meet Päffgen near the start of the 1960s, On a lark he asked her if she had ever considered a career as a musician, and so it happened that Papatakis ended up enrolling Nico in her first singing lessons, which eventually led to her performing with the Velvet Underground.

When he returned to Paris after the Algerian War, Papatakis decided to try his own hand at filmmaking, with Les Abysses (1963), an adaptation of Genet’s 1947 play, The Maids. Both The Maids and Les Abysses dramatize the lurid story of the Papin sisters, servants who murdered their employers in the 1930s. Papatakis submitted Les Abysses to the Cannes Film Festival and the selection committee boycotted it, but after Sartre and de Beauvoir lobbied on his behalf the festival eventually screened the film to uproarious scandal.

His subsequent works continued to challenge social and political norms. Papatakis returned to filmmaking a few years later in Greece with Thanos and Despina (1967), also known as Shepherds of Calamity or The Shepherds, a tragic love story set against the backdrop of the Greek military junta. It starred his second wife, Greek actor Olga Karlatos, with whom he was active in campaigning against the regime of the Greek colonels.

Tim Markatos writes for Commonweal magazine: “Shot in striking black and white, Thanos and Despina is clearly a more refined film than Les Abysses in nearly every regard, the manic energy of that freshman film still intact but doled out in smaller doses. Papatakis made the film the same year the Greek military overthrew the government, though you’d be forgiven for assuming this tale of creeping authoritarianism must have been shot after the fact. [...] It is rare to find a movie that engages with Eastern Orthodoxy as directly as Thanos and Despina does, and rarer still to find one set entirely between Holy Saturday and Pascha, the holiest forty-eight hours in the Orthodox liturgical year ” It starred his second wife, Olga Karlatos, with whom he was active in campaigning against the regime of the Greek colonels."

According to four time Academy Award nominated filmmaker Yogos Lanthimos, The Shepherds Of Calamity is “definitely one of the greatest Greek films ever made." Similar to Lanthimos' own work, this classic film takes a simple plot and makes it strange. It tells the story of a poor farmer trying to marry her son to the daughter of a rich land owner, but through director Nico Papatakis’ eye, it becomes something bigger and weirder. “I could have never imagined something so modern, absurd, anarchistic set in a bucolic environment and made in Greece during the ’60s,” Lanthimos said of the movie. “ I’m always taken by surprise when I re-watch it.”

Gloria Mundi (1975), was a disturbing drama starring Olga Karlatos as an actor who plays an Algerian terrorist in a film directed by her husband, but who has to face degradation and torture in reality because of her belief in a revolutionary ideal. It was withdrawn when the extreme right threatened to plant bombs in the cinemas where it was showing, and had to wait until 2005 to be screened publicly again in Paris.

Papatakis' films are noted for their intense, expressionistic style and themes of power, revolution, and social upheaval. His last two films, I Photografia (The Photograph, 1987) and Walking a Tightrope (1992), further explored these motifs: The Photograph, in which an emigrant from the military dictatorship in Greece goes to Paris, was a fairly potent political allegory. According to the critic Yannis Kontaxopoulos, Papatakis's oeuvre "revolves around one single theme: the relations between master and slave, humiliation and revolution, on both a political and personal level". His last film, Walking a Tightrope, dealt with a famous gay writer who tries to make the young Arab boy he loves into the world's greatest tightrope walker. The main character, played by Michel Piccoli, was a thinly disguised version of Genet.

Nikos Papatakis passed away on December 17, 2010, leaving behind a legacy of films with expressionistically heightened style and transgressive themes. His radical and influential cinema that inspired contemporary Greek filmmakers like Yorgos Lanthimos and Athina Rachel Tsangari. Despite his films' initial obscurity - his five films were difficult to track down in English until they were restored in 2018 for a brief theatrical run in New York City - they are now accessible to new audiences, via various streaming platforms, solidifying his place in the pantheon of groundbreaking European directors.

According film critic Tim Maratos, "Papatakis would never enjoy such success in his lifetime, but it was never his intention as a filmmaker to look for it. Despite his proximity to wealth and celebrity, Papatakis’s firsthand experiences of fascism, war, poverty, and exile seem to have kept him from ever turning his desire to unsettle the audience into a brand or a means of securing funding for his next project."

In a featurette shot for the Criterion retrospective on Papatakis, Athina Rachel Tsangari recalls some foreboding advice Papatakis passed down to her at the start of her career: “Don’t try to imitate life. You’re a descendant of Euripides and Aeschylus—it’s all about creating this archetypal violence. Make the audience uncomfortable!”

I.L., with information from the Guardian, Criterion, Commonweal Magazine and Farout Magazine.

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Mighty Afrin: in the Time of Floods is a coming-of-age story unfolding against the backdrop of climate change. In this emotionally powerful film, a 13-year-old girl is forced to leave her home on a remote islet because of the catastrophic floods and find her way to the metropolis of Dhaka in search of a new life.

Director Angelos Rallis, challenging the barriers between documentary and fiction, in this immersive film, focuses on the violent uprooting of climate refugees through the story of resilient Afrin, an orphan girl who struggles to survive in unthinkable circumstances, as the Brahmaputra River wipes out her home. Winner of several awards worldwide, Mighty Afrin: in the Time of Floods is now screening in Athens and next month in Thessaloniki.

Angelos Rallis spoke to Greek News Agenda* about shooting in Bangladesh, climate change, and his future plans.

Mighty Afrin: In the Time of Floods was shot in Bangladesh? How come?

All my films have been shot in distant countries. A Place for All was shot in Rwanda, Where Are You Singal was shot in Iraq and Turkey. Mighty Afrin: in the Time of Floods was shot in Bangladesh.

My father used to work for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His assignments in Greek embassies brought us into contact with different places and cultures around the world. I was born in Sweden, as were my siblings Katerina and George, where we lived the first years of our lives. We also spent a long time in Asia and Europe and we embarked on endless round trips to distant countries that were hard to discover at the time.

Gradually I became acquainted with the locals and their stories, stories about 'others' that we don't often see in the media. My mother Eva had encouraged me from a young age to take photos as she had noticed an inclination. She also worked as a teacher in orphanages. Influenced by my father’s work and my mother’s humanism, I began to be interested in the distant, the unknown.

I studied sociology and cinema in Greece, Sweden and England. I started working as a photojournalist for news agencies in England (Eaglepress), Belgium (reporters) and the newspaper Ethnos. I belong to the artists who use their lens to discover a story, to get in touch and connect with characters. It is the experience that interests me. I don't just want to tell a story but to live the experience and bring it to the audience through the big screen.

Could you share with us more about the young protagonist, the culture of the locals you interacted with, and the difficulties you faced while shooting the movie?

Social norms make women more vulnerable to flooding. Natural disasters magnify existing gender inequalities and widen the gap between rich and poor.

Afrin's struggle against the floods is becoming a symbol of survival representing millions of children and young people in the same situation. When she begins her risky journey across the country, Afrin is one of the many displaced children and climate refugees who make a living as waste-pickers in Dhaka. Afrin was a child living in the wilderness who had found a way to survive on an island of mud without basic commodities. Being an orphan gave her the freedom to decide for herself. Afrin is young and impetuous, full of dreams and desires. When her house is destroyed by floods, Afrin is displaced on her raft to Dhaka.

The difficulties of filming were enormous. On the island, I worked almost alone with my assistant and occasionally with a sound engineer for months without electricity, forced to film in the muddy water. I quickly had to adapt to an inhospitable environment where we were all at the mercy of nature. Every now and then I would stop filming to carry people to the shore in a small boat. The humidity was unbearable. Plus, it’s not just people seeking shelter but also animals like pythons and jackals. It was important for me to experience the dangers, bad weather and floods so that I could film them. 

The protagonists of the film have to deal with unthinkable situations. How do they cope with these adversities?

During the monsoon period, thousands of tiny islands, scattered along the Brahmaputra, move or even disappear. Millions of people are forced to move from one islet to another or abandon their homes. Their resilience and adaptation to new circumstances is what helps them survive.  These communities have learned to adapt because extreme poverty gives them no choice.

Is your film considered fiction or documentary?

Just like my previous works, it falls right between these two categories. The first part, on the island, is observational because it can better capture the violence of nature, while in the second part, I choose to get closer to the protagonist, Afrin, with close-ups and controlled shooting. This is right when Afrin begins to transform from a teenager into a woman. The film reaches its climax in a mystical situation where Afrin's dreams merge with reality. For me, there are no rules and boundaries that I have to follow. In Afrin I chose to use fictional elements (VFX, music, flashbacks) to bring out the theme of the film, not the form. It is also important to remember that even a documentary can never be truly objective. 

Do you think that art in general and cinema in particular could be an effective means of raising awareness of social and environmental issues?

Audiovisual works can and do have the potential not only to entertain but also to stimulate the public to focus on important issues in our everyday lives.  We can already see the devastating consequences of the climate crisis.  A film like Mighty Afrin: in the Time of Floods highlights this issue. It is something that concerns all of us and I hope we can public awareness.

 Do you believe that the art world should take a stand on big or controversial issues?

The art world over time can and should be an educational tool and should take a stand on big or controversial issues such as human rights, LGTB+ inequality, war, violence, the climate crisis, and the refugee crisis. If we don't use films as a means of educating society, I am afraid that the whole edifice will fall apart and we will be crushed.

How do you see the future of Greek cinema, both within and outside our borders?

Greek cinema has indeed shown an outward-looking trend over the last decade and several Greek films have made remarkable progress. In just 7 months of distribution, Afrin in the Time of the Flood has screened at 40 international festivals and won 14 international awards (Giffoni, Thessaloniki, Jihlava). It has also screened in cinemas in Italy and Greece and on television in France (ARTE), Germany (ZDF), ERT and by Al Jazeera in the Middle East. This practically means that millions of people have had access to and watched a Greek film. 

But ministries in charge should also support this effort of extroversion of artists in our country. Although the regulation and the funds have increased, unfortunately, they are still far below the average of other European countries. There is also the phenomenon that although the new funding regulation provides for specific amounts of financial support, these amounts are not able to cover the production and promotion of the film to be able to compete in the global markets.

Tell us about your next plans.

There are several projects such as a film about climate crisis in Greece and another science fiction film. Shooting a film in Greece interests me but is not an end in itself. It depends on the story and how I connect with it.

*Interview by Dora Trogadi

Read also via Greek News Agenda: Spiros Jacovides on his movie “Black Stone”; Asimina Proedrou on her film “Behind the Haystacks”; Thanasis Neofotistos on his film “Air Ηostess-737”

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Another version of ‘Greek summer nights’ is presented by talented director Sofia Exarchou in her film Animal.  The film premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival where leading actress Dimitra Vlagopoulou won the Best Performance Award. Animal was also the winner of the prestigious Golden Alexander Award at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and numerous other awards around the globe.

Against the backdrop of a summer resort, where tourists flock every summer and the ‘fun’ never ends, Animal follows a peculiar group of entertainers, led by Kalia.  Every single night they present their ‘artistic’ program on the stage of an all-inclusive resort. A stage filled with paper decorations, glossy costumes, comedy sketches, faux karaoke, and cheap glitter. This extravaganza seems to be leading Kalia into her own, lonesome soul-searching, existential experience. As the summer moves on, things seem to be getting out of control, revealing the illusions and the darkness that underpins this reality. Still, when the lights are back on, the show must go on. 

Sofia Exarchou was born in Athens. She studied electrical engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, directing at the Stavrakos School and theatre at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York. She pursued her postgraduate studies at the ESAV School in Toulouse. In 2014, she was selected to participate in the Sundance Screenwriters & Directors' Lab. Park, her first feature film, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and the San Sebastian Film Festival, where it won the New Directors Award.

Sofia Exarchou spoke to Greek News Agenda* about Animal, the system that we are trapped in, and her carefully crafted characters.

How did you come up with the idea of focusing on this particular group of entertainers? Did you want to make a statement on the working conditions today?

Following my first feature film, Park, I knew I wanted to make a film about the working conditions in the Western world, the working systems today. I also realized very quickly that I wanted to focus on the tourism industry because it's a world I already knew well and wanted to explore further.

It is the backbone of our economy and a key part of our identity. Initially, I thought that the protagonists of my film would be the employees of an all-inclusive hotel in general and not just the entertainers. During the writing process though, I decided to focus on the entertainers and the entertainment industry nowadays. How it is offered, under what circumstances, and how important and necessary it is ultimately for the smooth functioning of the capitalist system.

How did the role of Kalia come about and how was Dimitra Vlagopoulou, who perfectly portrays her, chosen?

I knew very early on that my protagonist in this film would be a woman, 35 years old, who had been working for many years as an entertainer in an all-inclusive hotel. A woman who had "sunk" into this world. A woman whose boundaries between personal and professional life are becoming dangerously blurred. This idea was the starting point for her story.

Dimitra and I had already worked together at the Park, so we've known each other for a long time. Dimitra is not just a graduate of the National Theatre School, but also of the State School of Dance, which is critical in the film, as Kalia is a very good performer who dances and sings every night in front of the hotel guests. Therefore, the actress who would portray her would have to have considerable training in dance and movement as well as a special relationship with her body, which plays a key role in the film.

However, the most important reason I decided to work with Dimitra again is that we are a great match at work. Going through different stages that intertwine and complement each other (such as research, constant discussions, improvisation, and rehearsals), we tried to discover more about the role. Through this process, we tried to understand the character and gradually "synthesize" it, going deeper and deeper. I think we communicate very well on a creative level and constantly inspire each other.

The group of entertainers seems to be trapped in a reality that leaves them no room for hope for a better tomorrow. Do you think they are in this situation by choice or because of an exploitative system?

I think it's very clear from the way the heroes' stories are introduced and developed that all the characters in Animal are trapped in a very specific system. A system, with a clear and strict structure, with specific rules and conditions, in which they are trapped with no possibility of escape or much room for hope. This system is never personified in Animal as a particular employer or hotel manager but is constantly present in every scene of the film. It is what defines the choices the entertainers make every day, on a personal and professional level.  It is, in narrative terms, the antagonist of the film, an unbeatable antagonist.

Kalia’s existential journey highlights precisely the conflict with the antagonist system, which is a losing battle. The film follows this woman as she confronts this realization.

What does the little girl symbolize?

When I started writing Animal, I already had the image of a child wandering around in this world in my mind. Like children who followed traveling troupes or a circus. Many ideas came to my mind about this little girl, this innocent observer. I was also very interested in the idea of a character who had been born into this environment. A character that this is the only world she knows.

The two central characters in Animal are 35-year-old Kalia and 17-year-old Eva, who follow two separate, almost opposite paths.  I began to process the idea that Eva could act as Kalia’s mirror, as a possible backstory for her. Then it occurred to me that the little girl could follow this pattern as well. That's how this triangle of female characters was created. The viewer follows their different journeys in parallel, but at the end of the film, he has the feeling that what he followed was maybe the story of the same woman in three different periods of her life.

Do you think that cinema should raise concerns about certain issues or is there room for self-reflection?

Of course, there is room for self-reflection but this does not mean that the film cannot raise issues at the same time. Every film mirrors the way the director thinks about the world. Is there anything more self-referential than that? On the other hand, the starting point for each director can be very different. The need that arises for him to tell a particular story can be very different each time. For me, most of the time my starting point is a universe, an environment that raises questions for me politically, and socially. This universe very quickly becomes the canvas on which my characters' stories begin to develop. As I write the script, I follow them obsessively, as if I were constantly looking at them through a microscope.

I am constantly trying to understand them and to capture their experience, their experience in this universe. For other directors, the starting point may be more self-referential or a combination of both. In any case, I think that no director can fully understand the reasons that led him or her to choose this particular story among so many others he or she could think of. I understand throughout the process that there are elements that connect and move me deeply without ever being able to fully interpret the reasons that led me to this choice, to this particular story.

What was the reaction of audiences and critics at the international festivals?

Animal began its run by making its world premiere at the Locarno International Film Festival where Dimitra also won the Performance Award. It was there that the first reviews for the film were written and they were rave reviews. At the same time, we saw the first reactions of the audience which were very touching.

Since then Animal has participated in many festivals worldwide, it has won the Best Film Award three times, at the Thessaloniki Film Festival (Golden Alexander Award/Theodoros Angelopoulos Award), the Vancouver Film Festival and the Cork Festival in Ireland. Dimitra has also received three Best Performance Awards (Locarno, Thessaloniki & Les Arcs in France).

The film has received various other awards such as the Fipresci Award in Mannheim, the Screenwriting Award in Santiago di Compostela, and various others. In mid-January, Animal was released in French cinemas with strong and moving reviews.

*Interview by Dora Trogadi

Read also: Thanasis Neofotistos on his film “Air Ηostess-737”  Spiros Jacovides on his movie “Black Stone” 

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Directed by Thanasis Neofotistos Air Ηostess-737 is a coming-of-age short film, focusing on the consequences of a mother’s symbolic and physical absence in the adult life of the individual. It premiered at the 75th Locarno Festival and since then it has participated in more than 80 international film festivals.

Vanina, perfectly portrayed by Lena Papaligoura, is a 39-year-old flight attendant, who is struggling to handle her emotional turmoil, while on a Boeing-737 flight. She keeps complaining about her new braces but soon, we realize she is dealing not only with physical but also with emotional pain. Her mother’s body is being carried on the plane to be buried in her hometown. This flight seems to be Vanina’s last chance to confront her trauma and finally reconcile with her mother.

Film director, writer and architect Thanasis Neofotistos is a member of the European Film Academy (EFA) and the Greek Film Academy, a Berlinale Talents alumnus & Head Programmer of the Student International Competition at the Drama International Short Film Festival. He has directed two award-winning short films, Patision Avenue and Route-3, and has already started working on his first feature film, The boy with the light blue eyes. 

Thanasis Neofotistos spoke to Greek News Agenda* about Air Ηostess-737 and his future plans.

Airhostess-737 has been very successful so far. It has screened at major international festivals and won several awards.  In your opinion, what has contributed to this outcome?

Its track record is excellent and I'm very happy about that. I can't go into specific factors but I can say with certainty that this is a story I really wanted to tell. It’s a story I ’ve always had in mind and wanted to share. This combination is probably what made it so successful.

How did your collaboration with Lena Papaligoura come about?

Casting is a process difficult to describe. It primarily relies on instinct. Vanina had the form of Lena in my imagination. In the beginning, we did audition a few actresses but eventually went for our first, intuitive choice that was absolutely rewarding. Apart from her exceptional talent, Lena has something of Vanina’s comic side, which was very comforting. At the same time, she has a kind of craziness, both as an actress and as a person, which I think is what took the role to another level. Last but not least, she is a fun person to work with.

The film focuses on the mother-daughter relationship.  How did you decide to deal with such a complex issue?

It all started with a dream, where I was in Vanina's shoes. Throughout our lives, I don't think we ever stop dealing with these early, fundamental relationships. We go around and around, we reproduce them, sometimes going in circles and sometimes moving forward. In a way, Vanina offered me a chance to creatively process my relationship with my own mother.

What is your view on acceptance in general? Does its pursuit delay or, even worse, nullify reconciliation with oneself? Is it maybe overrated?

In my opinion, it is not overrated at all. Acceptance is a necessary condition for reconciliation with ourselves. For those who weren't lucky enough to get it when and from those who should have offered it, the only way is to go back there, dig in, and claim it, even if the subject is missing. That's exactly what Vanina does.

Vanina is struggling to look flawless in her professional life. Most of us experience, in one way or another, similar stressful situations. Do you think there is a way we can have a balanced personal and professional life?

I think that we live in extremely demanding, exhausting times. Coupled with exposure to social media, which demands constant connectivity with everyone, striking a balance can be very difficult. It takes a conscious and concerted effort to make it work.

Are you optimistic about the future of Greek cinema, both in Greece and abroad?

Yes indeed! Greek cinema is doing extremely well abroad now and I think that in the next few years we can expect to see works from very talented filmmakers who will play a leading role. I hope these works will also meet a little more of the audience in the cinema. For me, that's the challenge.

How about your next steps?

I'm currently fully committed to my first feature film The Boy with Blue Eyes, which will be shot in the next few months after almost 8 years of work. It is the coming-of-age story of Peter, a teenage boy, in a strange, mountainous village in Greece full of fear and superstition! I am so excited and very nervous at the same time!

*Interview by Dora Trogadi

Read also via Greek News Agenda: Spiros Jacovides on his movie "Black Stone"; Asimina Proedrou on her film "Behind the Haystacks"

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