20/10/2008

There has been an increase in domestic film production and admissions over recent years: from the 20 domestic feature films released locally from 2006-2007 to the 25 plus expected to screen during 2008-2009. While public funding is one of the main reasons behind this upswing, acclaimed filmmakers, awarded directors and major local box office hits should also be taken into account.

Projects produced in the period of 2007-2008 – including Alexis Alexiou’s Tale 52, Vassilis Douvlis’ The Homecoming and Costantina Voulgaris’ Valse Sentimentale – have been successful at important international film festivals and have thus contributed to creating and maintaining an artistic space for further productions. As a result, the Greek Film Center, the country’s main funding body, decided to support ten more films this season.

Domestic box office figures are also thriving. Local hit Just Broke Up grossed over €3.3m, surpassed only by the Greek-centered blockbuster smash hit Mamma Mia (€5.2m) and Asterix and The Olympic Games [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (€3.4m). The top ten included two more Greek features, thereby raising the overall gross for Greek titles to approximately €8.5and breaking a 20-year record. Also of note, The Dark Knight (€2.8m) was left in the wake of local film Loufa kai Apallagi-I4 (over €3.4m).

In general, the Greek film industry seems to be prospering after some time. The more films that are produced, the more balance there is between arthouse cinema and a market strengthened by blockbuster features.