54th TIFF poster designed by Greek director Alexandros Avranas and Stavros Rossos. 

-54th THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. November 1 - 10, 2013-

PRESS RELEASE. October 22nd, 2013

GREEK FILMS 2013

The 54th Thessaloniki International Film Festival will screen 8 feature films produced in 2013 in Greece and in coproduction with other countries; two of them will be participating in the International Competition section (to be announced at a later date). In addition, 17 award-winning Greek films from the Drama Short Film Festival will be screened during the event in 2 separate programs, presenting the newest generation of emerging Greek filmmakers.

Again at the forefront of the directors’ concerns, the crisis provides ample material and inspiration, yet the shock of the financial crash is not as immediate anymore. Its moral and social consequences are now observed more clearly, in greater depth and less literally by Greek filmmakers; the thematic diversity and originality of these 8 feature films is testimony to that. Their protagonists are often young and disenchanted, looking for ways to make the most out of dire circumstances and to redefine their lives. Much like Greek cinema itself, these characters possess both strength and imagination, reinventing themselves and discovering meaning in the barest essentials. The films are:

Standing Aside, Watching by Yiorgos Servetas -characterized by the director as an “epic of decay”- is the story of a young woman who leaves the city for her rural hometown. Despite her resilience and the will to build her life as she wants it, Antigone (a name laden with connotations of defiance), finds rural Greece a difficult, compromised place, where corruption has seeped into every crack of the small society. Similarly, the protagonist of the atmospheric The Winter by Constantinos Koutsoliotas, leaves the metropolitan life of London and tries to find himself in a small Greek village. The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas by Elina Psykou, starring Christos Stergioglou (Dogtooth, Unfair World), perfectly balances a darkly comic absurdity with a melancholy exploration of loneliness. Stergioglou, as a famous talk show host who stages his own kidnapping to boost his failing ratings, gives a powerful and restrained performance. Wild Duck by Yiannis Sakaridis, a quiet and poignant tale of morals in a crumbling world, sees a telecom contractor discovering activities that are both illegal and immoral, while Vassilis Raisis’ One Last Joke explores the boundaries between logic and faith via the story of a group of scientists who investigate and expose the practices of pseudo gurus and quacks. The Prophet by Dimitris Poulos finds a few men and a boy in a monastery, small figures in a striking landscape cut off from a world ravaged by war. Thanos Tsavlis’ martial-arts loving Goldfish paints a picture of a Greece destroyed by the economic crisis, where even the smallest of necessities costs millions of drachmas, people become snitches to survive and bounty hunters clear the streets from supposed criminals. Finally, Miss Violence by Alexandros Avranas -winner of the Silver Lion for Best Director and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor (Themis Panou) in the 2013 Venice IFF- is a raw family drama about the horrifying dynamics between the members of –what looks like– a typical Greek family.

THE FILMS:

The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas, Elina Psykou, 88’, 2013, Greece/Czech Republic

Goldfish, Thanos Tsavlis, 94’, 2013, Greece

Miss Violence, Alexandros Avranas , 99’, 2013, Greece

One Last Joke (I teleftea farsa), Vassilis Raisis 83’, 2013, Greece

The Prophet (O prophitis), Dimitris Poulos, 100’, 2013, Greece

Standing Aside, Watching (Na kathese kai na kitas), Yiorgos Servetas, 98’, 2013, Greece

Wild Duck, Yiannis Sakaridis, 99’, 2013, Greece

The Winter (O himonas), Constantinos Koutsoliotas, 105’, 2013, Greece/UK

DRAMA IFF - THE FILMS:

Amendment 10/60 (Sinthiki 10/60), Akis Polyzos, 22’, 2013, Greece

Anna, Spiros CHARALAMBOUS, 22’, 2013, Cyprus

Counting Hapiness, Venetia Evripiotou, 12’, 2013, Greece

Dead End, Tonia Misiali, 15’, 2013, Cyprus

Driving Lessons (Mathimata odigisis), Vassilis Kalamakis, 20’, 2013, Greece

Generator (Gennitria), Nikoleta Leousi, 19’, 2013, Greece

I Am Not Here Now (Den ime tora edo), Zisis Kokkinidis & Ionas Papaspyrou, 9’, 2013, Greece

Memory Reloaded, Panos Pappas & Despina Haralambous, 20’, 2013, Greece

Nice Mustache Giorgio (Oreo to moustaki sou Giorgio), Anastasios Gotsis, 8’, 2013, Greece

Nicoleta, Sonia-Liza Kenderman, 19’, 2012, Greece/UK

On the Threshold (Sto katofli), Anastasia Kratidi, 19’, 2013, Greece

Pieta, Alexandros Tsandilas, 13’, 2013, Greece

Red Hulk, Asimina Proedrou, 28’, 2013, Greece

Shadowboxing (Skiamahia), Dinos Grigoriou, 14’, 2013, Cyprus

Travel Express, Natasa Xydi, 23’, 2013, Greece

Vigilantes (Ethelondes), Thodoris Vournas, 20’, 2013, Greece

Without (Anef), Ioulieta Kalantzi, 8’, 2013, Greece

-54th TIFF FILM FESTIVAL PRESS RELEASE-

Edited by Vanessa McMahon