11/10/2005

Twenty feature films and four documentaries will compete for this year’s Greek Film Awards which are to be announced during the Thessaloniki Film Festival, 18-27 November. These are state awards and, ironically, nowadays almost the sole thing that still ties Greek filmmakers with the state. State financing to be precise. Only nine of the 24 competitors were supported by the Greek Film Centre (GFC), which is responsible for sustaining national production with public finances. More than half of the films are made either by debutants or second-time directors, something that has not gone unnoticed.

“This is going on for some years now and it could be either a good sign or a very bad one” Greek daily "Kathimerini" commented. “Either there is a continuous flow of young talent – or it means that [because of lack of funds] no new director can go further [in his career] than a couple of films…”
Production financing through public funds in Greece has come almost to a halt. Next year the number of film supported could be at an all time low as GFC has already announced that its bank accounts are almost empty.
Ironically, in spite of the misgivings Greek production is not showing signs of slowing down and the number of films in the Awards is offering proof to that. Eight of the 24 films have already been in distribution or presented in international festivals abroad with good reviews including The Dog’s Dream (“To oneiro tou skylou”) by Angelos Frantzis, Hostage (“Omiros”) by Constantinos Giannaris, Wonderland (“I poli ton thafmaton”) by Dimitris Athanitis, Sweet Memory (“Glykia mnimi”) by Kyriakos Katzourakis, Kinetta by Giorgos Lanthimos and Liubi by Layia Giourgou.