Successful Greek presence at the 76th Cannes Film Festival

The 76th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival (16-27 May 2023) concluded with the successful presence of Greece with significant representation and distinctions for Greece in the Market of the Cannes Film Festival (Marché du Film),

EKOME and the Greek Film Centre hosted this year’s Greek pavilion welcoming Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Drama International Short Film Festival with the aim of further strengthening the joint effort for the promotion of Greek filmmakers internationally.

The National Pavilion was the centre of all the activity of Greek filmmakers, it became a reception area for producers, festival representatives, film contributors and professionals of the international audiovisual industry, to celebrate Greek cinema and Greece as a rising force in the field of attracting audiovisual productions, all the actions of the Greek film community were presented, while the human resources of the four institutions were available for the providing all necessary assistance.

The national pavilion was the focus of the Greek filmmakers’ activity as it welcomed producers, festival representatives, film contributors and professionals of the international audiovisual industry, who were informed about the competitive investment incentives offered by Greece and the country’s growing potential in attracting audiovisual productions. Through the national pavilion, all the actions of the Greek film community were showcased.

Distinctions

The film “How to Have Sex“, directed by Molly Manning Walker, was awarded the prize in the section “Un Certain Regard” of the Cannes Film Festival. The film is a Greek co-production of Heretic, shot in Malia, Crete and was realized with the support of the Greek cash rebate program of EKOME.

Two years after the film «Brutalia, Days of Labour», which won the Canal+ award at Cannes Festival, Manolis Mavris returns to Cannes with his new short film “Midnight Skin“, a Greek-French co-production, supported by the Greek cash rebate of EKOME, had its world premiere as a special screening at the 62nd Cannes Critics’ Week (Semain de la critique).

Meanwhile the director’s new project, the feature film “Liar Man”, was awarded at Cannes as part of the Next Step program of the Critics Week. Evi Kalogiropoulou also participated in the Next Step program with the film project “Cora”. Eligible for this program are creators who have already successfully presented a short film at Critics’ Week.

Producers Network

For the first time, this year Greece also participated in the Producers Network, being the only country from Southeastern Europe and the Balkans that takes part in this action of the Marché du Film – Festival de Cannes, one of the largest and most sought-after film markets in the world, that welcomes more than 400 producers from all over the world, who are looking for networking opportunities and wish to be informed about the trends in the international production, financing, and distribution of their films.

Greek producers Dimitris Nakos (Soul Productions), Ioanna Bolomyti (Atalante Productions), Vasilis Chrysanthopoulos (Plays2Place), and Christina Stavropoulou (Filmiki Productions) participated in a series of meetings specifically designed to create opportunities and help producers dynamically promote their projects abroad.

Having already closed a very successful and production year (2022), EKOME continues to work on the development of Greek cinema and the production of audiovisual content in Greece, aiming to highlight our country as an ideal destination for audiovisual productions in Europe and to showcase Greek filmmakers on a global level.